BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — One of two of the country's youngest convicted killers was released from a Florida prison Tuesday morning, according to the South Bay Correctional Facility.
Former Brevard County residents Curtis and Catherine Jones were 12 and 13 years old when they killed their father’s girlfriend, Sonya Speights, and were sentenced to prison in 1999.
Curtis Jones was released Tuesday and his newly listed address is in Titusville. His sister is set to be released on Friday, and both will spend the rest of lives on probation, though they could petition the court for early termination.
Investigators said they confessed to wanting to first kill a relative who had sexually abused them, and then their father and his girlfriend for not protecting them.
Flashback: Youngest Fla. convicts' arrest in 1999
Curtis and Catherine accepted pleas and were both sentenced to 18 years in prison.
At the time, the siblings were the country's youngest people to be tried as adults and convicted of murder. They are now 29 and 30 years old.
The brother and sister have never learned how to drive a car and don't know how to use social media. Many believe life will be a challenge for them after their release.
Channel 9 legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said even with freedom there are challenges ahead.
"The real question here is have these individuals, have they obtained the life skills needed to successfully complete their probation?" he said.
Since being incarcerated, Fairchild became an ordained minister and Jones married a pen pal, Channel 9 learned.
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