Teenager sentenced to life for slaying
PALATKA (AP) – A Putnam County teenager has been sentenced to a mandatory life prison term for the slaying of a 66-year-old man last year so she could run away with her boyfriend.
Sixteen-year-old Morgan Leppert wept through most of the sentencing hearing Tuesday as family of murder victim James Thomas Stewart gave emotional testimony. Stewart was slain in his rural home.
A Flagler County jury convicted Leppert last month of first-degree murder, but the state did not seek the death penalty because of her age. Her boyfriend, 22-year-old Toby Lowry, previously pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty.
An Amber alert was issued for her and she and Lowry were located in El Paso, Texas.
Leppert’s attorney immediately filed an appeal.