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Delaware High Court Rejects Life Sentence Appeal in Juvenile Murder Case

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DOVER, Del. (AP) - Delaware's Supreme Court has rejected the latest appeal from a double murderer who narrowly avoided the death penalty for crimes he committed as a juvenile.

In a one-page order dated Tuesday, the court upheld a judge's summary dismissal last year of an appeal by Michael Jones. Jones argued, among other things, that his lawyers were ineffective and his life sentence was unfair.

The 35-year-old Jones was convicted of the drug-related killings of Cedric Reinford and Maneeka Plant. Plant's late grandparents were state representatives Al and Hazel Plant.

At the time of the 1999 killings in Wilmington, Jones was 17. A jury recommended that Jones be executed. But before he could be sentenced, the U.S. Supreme Court abolished the death penalty for juvenile offenders.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.