11-year-old Pennsylvanian is youngest person in world to face life without parole
Boy's claim of innocence prompted judge to try him as adult. A Pennsylvania boy who was 11 years old when he allegedly shot and killed his father's pregnant fiancee could find himself being the youngest person ever sentenced to life without parole. Human rights campaigners have said the case shows the US' justice system to be unusually harsh towards juvenile offenders, and argue that a life sentence for the boy could violate international law.
Prosecutors allege that Jordan Brown, now 13, shot and killed 26-year-old Kenzie Houk as she slept in her home in Lawrence County, near Pittsburgh, in February, 2009. Houk was pregnant with a nearly full-term child at the time. Brown was charged with two counts of homicide. Brown's lawyers on Tuesday argued an appeal against a judge's earlier decision to have the adolescent tried as an adult.