Wrestling Death Teen Goes Free

Lionel Tate, the teen who killed a 6-year-old playmate and became the youngest defendant in the nation to be locked away for life, was released Monday after three years behind bars.

Wearing a light blue golf shirt, Tate emerged unshackled from the jail surrounded by his mother, attorneys and other supporters. Tate and his mother held hands and raised them in the air.

"For now, Lionel wants to go home, he wants to feel his pillow, he wants to sleep in his own bed and his mom cook to make him his favorite meal tonight," said his attorney Richard Rosenbaum.

Circuit Judge Joel Lazarus earlier ordered Tate freed without bail, a month after an appeals court threw out the boy's conviction because his mental competency was not evaluated before trial. Tate, 16, has since struck a plea bargain that will mean no further time in prison.

Supporters have rallied from the Vatican to the United Nations to free Tate since he was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of 6-year-old playmate Tiffany Eunick three years ago. Tate was 12 when he punched, kicked and stomped the 48-pound girl to death in 1999.

Tate had claimed he accidentally killed the girl while imitating professional wrestling moves he had seen on television.

The case stirred debate over a Florida law that requires children convicted of first-degree murder to get life in prison without parole.

After Tate's conviction was thrown out, prosecutors renewed their offer of a three-year sentence in exchange for a guilty plea to second-degree murder — the same offer Tate's mother had turned down before the trial.

After meeting with a psychologist who will test his mental competence, Tate is to appear at another hearing Thursday, when he is expected to plead guilty to the second-degree murder charge and be formally sentenced.

He has agreed to one year of house arrest, 10 years' probation, counseling and 1,000 hours of community service.

"I just want to give God thanks first and foremost," said Tate's mother, Kathleen Grossett-Tate. "Continue to pray for us because we're going to need it. This is a new chapter in our lives and we're just going to go forward."

Tiffany's mother, Deweese Eunick-Paul, said she hoped Tate would admit he was responsible for the death and stop claiming it was an accident.

"It's just a fantasy for them and to make him feel good. That he didn't do something wrong. I mean you cannot change the fact that it was murder," she told CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassmann.

"I do hope that Lionel will express remorse, at a minimum, for what occurred," Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday.

Tate's supporters said the teen will not make the same mistakes again. Tate's 18th birthday is just over a year away.

"He's going to have to make the right choices and listen to the right people," said his trial attorney, Jim Lewis. "Lionel's got a second chance and hopefully he's going to make it work — if he's got help."