RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Austin Thompson will spend the rest of his life in prison after shooting and killing five people and injuring two others when he was 15 years old in 2022. In January, Thompson pleaded guilty to every charge against him, avoiding a trial altogether.
During sentencing on Friday, Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway made it clear that he thinks Thompson belongs to a rare group of people who commit crimes so heinous while juveniles that it is fitting for them to have no chance at freedom.
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“For the first-degree murder of James Thompson, I’m ordering you incarcerated for the term of life without the possibility of parole,” Judge Ridgeway said to Thompson.
It’s just the first of five consecutive life without parole sentences handed down to 18-year-old Thompson more than three years after he shot and killed five people, including his then 16-year-old brother James…