Teen faces life sentence in killing of high school teacher

Security camera footage shows the teen following Colleen Ritzer into the restroom, then wheeling her body out to the woods in a recycle bin. He’s scheduled to be sentenced Friday in Salem Superior Court.

“This family, who has suffered beyond measure, can not close the book on this case”, said Blodgett.

Chism did get a life sentence on the murder charge but could have gotten parole after 25 years because of recent court rulings that limit sentences for juvenile murder defendants. Chism was a 14-year-old student.

She added that “evil can not be rehabilitated”. In 2012, the high court ruled that mandatory sentences of life without parole for juvenile homicide offenders violate the Constitution. Chism’s lawyers argued he was legally insane when he attacked and killed Ritzer.

Hours after murdering Ritzer, who had stayed late to help students, Chism was found wandering along a state highway carrying a bag containing Ritzer’s identification and the box cutter.

Brother Daniel Ritzer said, “She was the greatest sister a kid could ask for”.

Ritzer’s parents said Chism should never have a chance to leave prison on parole. He received 40-year concurrent sentences on rape and robbery charges.

“Colleen Ritzer lived a life of quiet heroism”, the judge said.

The judge says he knows Chism had a hard upbringing but that doesn’t excuse his actions.

Friday, Chism was sentenced to life in prison for the murder, with the possibility of parole in 25 years. Every family member was wearing something in a shade of pink – which was Colleen’s favorite color. Chism will not be eligible for parole until those sentences are completed.

If Philip Chism is not granted parole after 40 years, he will remain in prison indefinitely.

With sentencing set to get underway at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Chism’s defense team filed a sheath of motions Thursday morning seeking, among other things, to limit the number of speakers during the hearing.

She called Chism “manipulative”, “narcissistic” and a poor candidate for rehabilitation, reminding the judge that he’s also accused of attacking a woman at a youth detention facility.

Lowy took the suggestion made by Philip Chism’s attorneys, who requested he be eligible for parole after 40 years.

Memorials were placed outside Danvers High School in 2013.

Sarah Gianquinta, one of Colleen Ritzer’s fellow math teachers, was among the last people to see her alive. He is being held without opportunity for bail in the death of Colleen Ritzer, a teacher at Danvers…

Colleen’s father, Tom Ritzer, choked up on the stand.

The Ritzer family-mom and dad Peggie and Tom, and Colleen’s younger siblings Dan and Laura-sat side by side at the witness stand during Chism’s sentencing hearing as they took turns describing her as a role model and a friend.

Chism was 14 when he killed the 24-year-old Danvers High School teacher in 2013.

“Words can’t express the amount of pain and sorrow these past two and a half years have been”, Diane Chism, the convict’s mother, wrote in a statement. “It is hard for this court to imagine what could be worse for an individual and family to endure than the brutal murder of Colleen Ritzer”.

The Massachusetts teenager convicted of raping and killing his high school math teacher faces a sentence of up to life in prison when a judge hands out his punishment.

Chism was convicted of raping Ritzer inside the bathroom but was acquitted of a second rape, committed with a tree branch in woods near the school where Chism put her body.