Southern, Pridgen Get Life in Prison for Murdering Makia Coney

[FR7 Baptist]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Charles Southern, 17, and Connor Pridgen, 16, will spend their lives in jail for shooting Makia Coney to death in a park in February.

"You shot her in the cheek," said Judge Libby Senterfitt, addressing Southern this afternoon. "Then Mr. Pridgen, you finished her off and ensured that the family could not have a funeral with a viewing."

"I certainly find it difficult to believe you couldn't see the mutilation you caused," she said.

The sentence is the maximum they could have received for the shooting death of 17-year-old Coney. All three were students at University Christian School, just a few miles from the wooded area off Powers Avenue where Coney's body was found in February. The two pleaded to second degree murder in July.

Senterfitt said she took into account the severity of the crime and called it a premeditated and calculated crime. "There is no justification for this crime," she said. "I considered your culpability -- you guys have gone to blaming each other."

"I've looked for difference, for the leader, for the follower. I couldn't find it," she said. "You both concieved this evil plan, then you carried it together. There is no difference."

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This case, as tragic as it is, has an added personal element to me. I didn't know any of the people involved, but my two young cousins go to this school, and this murder happened about half of a mile from my house.

This is a textbook example of why I support the death penalty. This was a calculated murder with malice aforethought. I disagree with the Supreme Court ruling banning the death penalty for juveniles. These people are 16 and 17. That's old enough to be fully culpable for murder. I'm not saying that life in prison is unjust, but death should be an option in cases like this. Either way, we've got to set a standard in society. You murder someone with malice aforethought, and you are done. Either life in prison or death depending on the case, period.