BOISE, Idaho — A Boise man who was sentenced to life in prison for brutally killing his mother when he was 16 years old has been resentenced for his crime.
Ethan Windom argued that his youth and immaturity were not considered in light of rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court after he was sentenced to life without parole for the murder of 42-year-old Judy Windom.
Prosecutors say Windom clubbed his mother to death and then repeatedly stabbed her at her Boise home on Jan. 24, 2007. He was charged as adult with first-degree murder, but later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was ordered to serve life in prison with no possibility of parole.
The Idaho Supreme Court reversed that decision and ordered Windom to be resentenced, and the state appealed the order to the U.S. Supreme Court. The application was denied on Feb. 20, 2018.
A series of U.S. Supreme Court rulings called into question whether fixed life sentences are unconstitutionally cruel and unusual when imposed on juveniles, who are under the age of 18 when they commit the offense.
The case was sent back to Idaho’s Fourth District Court. On Wednesday, Judge Michael Reardon sentenced Windom to 26 years to life in prison. Windom has already spent 12 years behind bars.
