FAYETTEVILLE -- A judge has denied a motion to reconsider his previous rulings and give the teen killer of a 4-year-old girl a new sentencing hearing with a jury.
Christopher S. Segerstrom was 15 on July 26, 1986, when he took Barbara Thompson into a wooded area behind the Lewis Plaza Apartments several blocks west of the University of Arkansas. He sexually assaulted her before bashing her head with a rock and suffocating her.
Segerstrom, 45, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
The U.S. and Arkansas Supreme courts have since ruled juveniles cannot be sentenced to life without parole, and Arkansas changed its law to allow life with the possibility of parole after 30 years in order to comply with the rulings.
Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay resentenced Segerstrom on May 3. Because Segerstrom was given credit at his original sentencing for 11 months jail time served, he's eligible to seek parole.
Ben Crabtree, one of Segerstrom's lawyers, earlier this month asked Lindsay to reconsider.
"Defendant is entitled to individualized resentencing by a judge or jury and a parole hearing does not suffice," according to the motion.
Lindsay entered an order denying the requested sentencing hearing Wednesday. Lindsay noted in his order that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled permitting a juvenile homicide defendant to be considered for parole is sufficient.
Thompson's family and Prosecutor Matt Durrett are opposed to Segerstrom being released from prison on parole.
NW News on 06/29/2017