A federal judge on Friday overturned the life-without-parole sentence that Lee Boyd Malvo received in the D.C. sniper case nearly 15 years ago because he was only 17 years old at the time.
A Supreme Court ruling in 2012 offered further protections to juveniles. The court ruled that any mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole for juveniles were deemed unconstitutional. In 2016, the Supreme Court ruled that this be applied retroactively, according to a Washington Post report.
Spotsylvania County Circuit Court will now issue a new sentence to Malvo. Another challenge to life sentences he received in Maryland is pending.
Malvo, now 32, was one of two men convicted of murdering 10 people in sniper-style attacks around Interstate 495, essentially the perimeter for Washington, D.C., during October 2002.
Malvo had been sentenced to life in prison without parole and is currently at Red Onion State Prison. John Allen Muhammad was sentenced to death and executed in 2009.
