Woman sentenced to death at 16 for killing is freed

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A U.S. woman who became the country's youngest death row inmate at age 16, sparking protests, after confessing to her role in the murder of a 78-year-old Bible studies teacher has been released from prison after spending a quarter century behind bars...

Adam Howard

Jun 17, 2013

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A U.S. woman who became the country’s youngest death row inmate at age 16, sparking protests, after confessing to her role in the murder of a 78-year-old Bible studies teacher has been released from prison after spending a quarter century behind bars.

Paula Cooper, whose sentence enraged human rights activists and drew a plea for clemency from Pope John Paul II, left the state prison quietly in a state vehicle and wearing donated clothing, Department of Correction spokesman Doug Garrison said.

The Indiana prison gave the now-43-year-old woman $75 to help her make a fresh start. When asked where Cooper was being taken, Garrison said, “We have something arranged, but that’s not something I can talk about.”

Cooper was 15 when she used a butcher’s knife to cut Ruth Pelke 33 times during a robbery that ended in Pelke’s death. Her three companions received lighter sentences, but Cooper confessed to the killing.

Shortly after she was sentenced, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the execution of young people who were under 16 at the time they committed an offense could not be sentenced to death, saying it counted as cruel and unusual punishment and was thus unconstitutional.

“Even in Europe it was a rallying cry,” said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington. “Her case really became a symbol of the death penalty.”

Indiana legislators passed a state law raising the minimum age limit for execution from 10 years to 16, and in 1988, the state’s high court set Cooper’s death sentence aside and ordered her to serve 60 years in prison. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to execute anyone who is younger than 18 years when they commit an offense.

Cooper’s sentence was reduced due to her behavior in prison, where she earned a bachelor’s degree. She will remain on parole for a few years, Garrison said.

“We’re just wanting her to be successful, that’s all,” he said. “She needs to get back to living.”

Ruth Pelke’s grandson, Bill Pelke, has organized opposition to the death penalty since about two years after her murder. His grandmother, he said, would have been “appalled” at a young girl being sentenced to die.

Pelke was in Indiana on Monday for Cooper’s release but missed it. He said he expects Cooper to phone him sometime in the next few days.

Linley E. Pearson, who was Indiana’s attorney general when Cooper appealed to the state Supreme Court, said research now shows that the human brain doesn’t fully mature until age 24.

“So kids can do a lot of things they wouldn’t do if they were an adult,” Pearson said.