One of the Washington teens convicted of beating an elderly man to death and taking selfies with the dead body will spend the next eight years behind bars.
The 13-year-old girl was handed down the maximum sentence for someone her age found guilty of second-degree murder in Washington, D.C. – committing her to juvenile detention until she's 18, and then prison, till 21, according to WRC-TV.
The teen was one of five girls between the ages of 12 and 15 convicted in the deadly beating of 64-year-old Reggie Brown in an alley in October 2023.
Brown, who was battling cancer at the time of his murder, was walking home when he was assaulted by an unknown man, prosecutors said. As they walked by, the girls asked if they could join in on the beating because they claimed they were bored. One of the girls recorded the incident on her phone, showing the perpetrators stomping on the victim's head.
Brown died from blunt force trauma, according to his autopsy.
During her sentencing hearing Wednesday, the teen read an apology letter to Brown's family.
"I wish I could start my life over," she told the court, according to WUSA-TV.
But Brown's sister said she didn't buy it.
"She didn't give no remorse or no empathy or no sympathy," Malda Brown told the station outside the courtroom.
"It saddens me that these young girls could be so brutal and do something so severe," Malda said in a separate interview with WRC. "But I'm just grateful that the judge did give the time that D.C. commits until 21."
According to testimony earlier this year from a 15-year-old involved in Brown's murder acting as a key witness for the prosecution, the teen testified the group of friends were hanging out at a skate park before she suggested they "find someone to beat up" because they were "bored," WUSA reported.
The 15-year-old testified the girls saw a man with a blue coat assaulting Brown.
"He then walked up to us, and I asked him why he was beating him up," the girl told the court, WRC reported.
"I don't remember what he said," the girl said. "I asked if we could help. He said yes."
The 15-year-old pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon as part of a plea agreement, earlier this year. She was sentenced to three years in juvenile detention.
