DES MOINES, Iowa, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- An Iowa woman who once was the youngest person in the state's prisons serving a life sentence has been resentenced and recommended for parole, officials say.
Kristina Joy Fetters, who was sentenced to life without parole when she was 15, was resentenced this week after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such sentences for juveniles were unconstitutional, The Des Moines Register reported Thursday.
In resentencing Fetters, now 33, Judge Douglas Staskal noted she had "rehabilitated and redeemed herself" while in prison. Staskal recommended the Board of Parole grant Fetters immediate release because she has Stage 4 breast cancer.
Parole board chairman Jason Carlstrom said the resentencing "came up fast" and board members needed time to review Fetter's information before making a decision.
Fetter attorney Michael Adams said during his client's time in prison she had been active in warning young offenders about getting involved in crime. She is no longer able to speak to the juveniles because the cancer has now moved into her bones.
Adams said if Fetters were released, she would probably be taken to a hospice.
Fetters was convicted in 1994 of killing her 73-year-old great-aunt by hitting her with an iron skillet and stabbing her five times.
