In 1999 in Brevard County, Florida, 12-year-old Curtis Jones and his 13-year-old sister Catherine used a stolen pistol to shoot and kill their father’s girlfriend, Nicole Speight. The siblings had told authorities that a male relative sexually abused them, and child welfare investigators later found evidence of abuse but did not remove them or stop it. They originally planned to kill their father and the alleged abuser as well but panicked and only killed Speight.
Prosecutors charged them as adults, and they pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for 18-year sentences instead of possible life terms, serving about 16 years in prison before their release.