Mom of teen who killed teacher cries at sentence

All seven schools in the suburban Boston town were closed as a result… He said her death was a “brutal and senseless murder….”

“Colleen’s killer knew exactly what he was doing, ” Ritzer said.

AN AMERICAN school pupil has been jailed for life for raping and then killing his maths teacher at a MA high school.

A clear jar with colorful slips of paper sat in front of Peggie Ritzer during her testimony.

Tom Ritzer thinks about going to Danvers High School that night she was missing, before he knew she was dead.

(CNN) – A judge in MA on Friday sentenced a teenager to serve at least 40 years in prison for killing, raping and robbing his high school math teacher.

The Massachusetts teen who brutally raped and murdered his teacher was sentenced Friday to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 25 years.

“Although we very much appreciate this court’s commitment to seeking justice for Colleen, today’s sentence did not achieve that goal”, Peggy Ritzer said.

Topor said he hopes Chism never gets out of prison.

A judge in Salem Superior Court was set to sentence Chism after hearing nine victim-impact statements from Ritzer’s family and friends. That was increased to 40 years due to a rape and robbery charge. Ritzer’s body was found later in woods near the school.

A jury in December found him guilty of first-degree murder with deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity and cruelty.

Ritzer’s family, however, told the press they were unhappy that Chism might eventually get out of prison. “The decision of the SJC is disrespectful to Colleen and the people who love her. The SJC decision was a betrayal to all victims and their families”. “I hate Colleen’s killer and will never forgive him. And I lost my lovely little girl”. Many of them wore pink, her favorite color.

“She loved being a big sister, ” Peggie Ritzer said, adding that her son, Daniel, would often sleep on the floor of his big sister’s bedroom.

Susan Oker, the teen’s lawyer, had asked for a sentence that would make Chism eligible for parole no later than age 40. The court had earlier found Chism competent to stand trial. Surveillance video from inside the school – including that which showed Chism following Ritzer to the bathroom where she was killed – was part of the prosecution case. “Rather, this court is constitutionally obligated to set a parole date of no more than 25 years for her murder”. “They can not move forward with the knowledge that the person who took their precious daughter’s life is not forever gone from their lives”. Any parent who goes through something like this and then has to do battle with the system, well, they have to be wearing their armor.

He will face a judge at least one more time. He is awaiting trial on attempted murder charges after he allegedly attacked a female detention worker with a pencil, circumstances prosecutors say are disturbingly similar to the attack on Ritzer.