SALEM, Mass.
(AP) -- A teenager who raped and killed his high school math
teacher was sentenced Friday to life in prison with eligibility for
parole in 40 years.
The 2013 slaying of
Danvers High School teacher Colleen Ritzer by Philip Chism was "brutal
and senseless," Salem Superior Court Judge David Lowy said as he
pronounced the sentence.
"Colleen Ritzer lived a life of quiet heroism," the judge said. "The crashing waves of this tragedy will never wane."
Chism
was 14 when he followed Ritzer, who was 24, into a school bathroom,
strangled her, stabbed her at least 16 times and raped her. His lawyers
acknowledged he killed her but argued he was mentally ill, a contention
rejected by the jury.
Chism, now 17, will
serve life in prison with the possibility of parole in 25 years on a
murder charge, but he received 40-year concurrent sentences on rape and
robbery charges. The net result will leave him eligible to be paroled in
40 years, when he would be in his 50s.
Ritzer's parents said Chism should never have a chance to leave prison on parole.
Her
mother, Peggie Ritzer, called the sentence unacceptable. She blamed the
state Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled in December 2013 that
juveniles could not be sentenced to life in prison without the
possibility of parole.
Prosecutors had asked
that Chism stay in prison for at least 50 years. Defense attorney Susan
Oker asked for a sentence that would make Chism eligible for parole no
later than age 40. She cited scientific studies that said a juvenile
brain is not fully developed.
During the
earlier sentencing hearing, Ritzer's parents, siblings, colleagues and
lifelong friends on Friday described a young woman who loved her job,
her students and her life and who never had a negative word to say. Many
of them wore pink, her favorite color.
Peggie Ritzer said her daughter's death had left her "so very broken."
"Now
I isolate myself from people I love because pretending to be happy is
so difficult," she said. "He is pure evil, and evil can never be
rehabilitated."
Tom Ritzer said he felt as though he had failed his daughter.
"I
didn't protect Colleen," he said. "A dad's job is to fix things. I
would do anything I could if I could fix this for Colleen."
Chism's
mother, Diane Chism, cried quietly as he was sentenced. Earlier Friday,
she released a statement expressing her condolences to Ritzer's family.
"Words
can't express the amount of pain and sorrow these past 2 1/2 years have
been," she said. "However, there is no one who has suffered more than
the Ritzer family. My utmost esteem, prayers and humble respect is with
them today as they continue their journey to heal."
At
trial, the defense said Chism wasn't criminally responsible for his
actions. A psychiatrist who testified for the defense said Chism, who
had just moved to Massachusetts from Clarksville, Tennessee, was hearing
voices and was in the throes of a psychotic episode when he killed
Ritzer.
Chism was convicted of raping Ritzer
inside the bathroom but was acquitted of a second rape, committed with a
tree branch in woods near the school where he put her body. He also was
convicted of armed robbery for stealing Ritzer's credit cards and
underwear.
