More life sentences given in murder

ST. LOUIS -- A 21-year-old St. Louis man convicted of killing a woman during a home invasion has been resentenced to an additional three life sentences and 45 more years.

The new sentence issued Friday for Ledale Nathan Jr. followed an earlier U.S. Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a former sentence, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Nathan was 16 when he and an accomplice burglarized a home Oct. 5, 2009, and began shooting. An off-duty police officer and a firefighter were injured, and 34-year-old Gina Stallis was killed.

Nathan was convicted in 2012 of first-degree murder and several other counts. At the time, the first-degree murder conviction automatically earned Nathan a sentence of life without parole.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled later, however, that automatic life sentences without parole were unconstitutional for juveniles, even if the defendant was certified for trial as an adult, as Nathan was.

After a weeklong hearing in June, Nathan's first-degree murder conviction was knocked down to second-degree. The jury then had to decide the appropriate penalty. The defense argued during the resentencing that Nathan's actions could at least in part be attributed to a rough childhood where he was exposed to drugs and abuse.

Circuit Judge Robert Dierker on Friday followed the jury's recommended punishment. Nathan now has eight consecutive life sentences, plus 120 years and 11 concurrent life sentences, stemming from the murder. Nathan could be eligible for parole after 75 years.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com