A man convicted in the 2009 thrill killing of his South Bay classmate is now free.
Then-teenagers Jae Williams and Randy Thompson lured Michael Russell to a home and stabbed him to death. Williams was 15 at the time, and Thompson was 16. Both were tried as adults and convicted.
The murder was dubbed a thrill killing because Williams and Thompson said they took Russell's life because they wanted to see what it felt like to kill someone.
But in 2018, state lawmakers passed a law prohibiting anyone under 16 from being tried as adults.
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Williams went back to juvenile court to revisit his case. On Monday, a judge set him free nine years into his 26-year sentence.
"The state legislature essentially tied the hands of prosecutors and said you can no longer charge a 14 or a 15 year old as an adult, regardless of the nature of the crime," legal analyst Steven Clark said.
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Williams' lawyer, Lewis Romero, who repeatedly sparred with prosecutors and the judge, said, "Finally, the courts have done what is just. We should stop caging children and punishing them – not only in California, the United States, across the world. We are more interested in cage-free chickens, cage-free animals. We should be more focused on cage-free children."
Thompson, who is only a few months older than Williams, remains in prison.
As Williams settles in at home, Russell's family members said they're left with nothing but pain.
"He would have been a great contributor to society and unfortunately he’s not the one that gets to live here in it because Jae killed him," said Cathy Russell, Michael's aunt. "[Jae] gets to live here now. He gets to be out and be a member of our community. It's so not deserving."
