Young Woman Again Sentenced To Life In Dad's Death
By ED WHITE, Associated Press
PORT HURON (AP) - A former honors student who was convicted of plotting to have her father stabbed to death when she was 17 years old was sentenced Thursday to life in a Michigan prison without parole - the same punishment she first received in 2011.
Tia Skinner returned to court after a U.S. Supreme Court decision barred mandatory no-parole sentences for youths under 18 convicted of first-degree murder. A St. Clair County judge was free to give Skinner a shot at parole but settled again on a sentence that means she'll never leave prison.
"Justice demands that you serve not one day less," Judge Daniel Kelly said.
Skinner was just a month shy of her 18th birthday in late 2010 when two young men attacked her parents in their bed in Yale, 85 miles northeast of Detroit. Paul Skinner was stabbed to death, while Mara Skinner survived 26 stab wounds.
The evidence showed that Tia Skinner orchestrated the attack because she was upset at her parents' disapproval of her boyfriend, a 19-year-old man who was also convicted in the killing. She left a window open and a ladder outside the house. She drew a map of the neighborhood, used text messages to communicate with the killers and chose knives.
"Tia was the architect of the plan," the judge said.
Skinner, now 20, said she was sorry for what happened and acknowledged she could have stopped the attack.
"I am the coward that everyone says I am," she told Kelly.
Mara Skinner was in court but did not speak. Three relatives, however, urged the judge to show no mercy during emotional statements that seemed to be aimed more at Tia Skinner than the judge.
"How did that knife feel - foot-long and an inch-and-a half wide? You didn't just bring a paring knife," said an uncle, Ken Skinner.
"We're together. You're not. You're out," he said of the family. "You shouldn't see no light at the end of the tunnel."
Kelly said the Supreme Court struck down automatic no-parole sentences for teenagers because it felt that vulnerable, immature young people deserved a thorough hearing and shouldn't be treated the same as adults. But the nation's top court still didn't remove the possibility of life without parole.
Defense attorney John Livesay called the attack "egregious" and "incomprehensible" but said Skinner otherwise had a spotless life and deserved a chance at freedom.
The judge, however, said she didn't suffer from the disadvantages experienced by other kids who don't comprehend the consequences of committing crimes.
At the time, Skinner was a high school senior soon to be accepted to Western Michigan University. She was active in her church and performed in the school band. Paul and Mara Skinner adopted her after her birth by a prison inmate.
"She was not affected by peer pressure. She was not a follower," the judge said.
The two young men also convicted of first-degree murder weren't under 18 and aren't entitled to a new sentence.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
