In 2011, a then 17-year-old Tyler Hadley of Port St. Lucie, Florida, killed both of his parents with a claw hammer before dragging their bodies to their bedroom. While the bodies of Mary Jo and Blake Hadley remained in the bedroom, Tyler Hadley threw a party for all of his Facebook friends. He even showed one of his friends the corpses of his murdered parents.
While in prison he gave out autographs to other prisoners signed ‘Hammer Time’ Hadley was charged as an adult and pleaded no contest to their murders. Subsequently, he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. However, his sentence was thrown out after the Supreme Court ruled that minors couldn’t be sentenced to mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Last week a new sentence was handed down for Hadley and it was a lesser sentence, however, it may be unlikely Hadley would ever be a free man. The sentence he received this time was two concurrent life sentences.
The judge presiding over the sentencing had this to say…
“The defendant displayed perverse premeditation, heartless cruelty and savagery, extreme violence, a willingness to mutilate and absolute depravity,” the judge declared. “Considering the victims were blood relatives and were killed up close and personally with a handheld tool, it’s obvious the defendant was fueled by a long, simmering, passionate hatred toward those who loved him the most.”
I’m satisfied that Hadley received two life sentences although I would have preferred them to be served consecutively again. It was also good to see a maniac like this put away for life despite the best efforts of the Supreme Court. Personally, I have no problem with minors being sentenced to LWOP for certain offenses like premeditated murder. If a teenager doesn’t understand that murder is not only illegal but inherently wrong then they’re too stupid to be among the rest of us anyway.
Real Crime with Trench Reynolds 