They were brought up in the United States prison system. Soon they will be freed.
The two siblings have been behind bars since they were 12 and 13.
At the time of their arrest, they were the youngest people in the US to be tried as adults in a murder case.
After being found guilty, they were sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Now, after 16 years behind bars, Catherine and Curtis Jones will finally be released.
In 1999, the brother and sister from Florida shot their father’s fiancee, Sonya Nicole Speights, after discovering the couple would be married.
What was originally written-off as a crime of jealousy was soon revealed to be far more complex.
The children were indeed hostile to the adults in their house. But perhaps this was because both children were sexually abused by a male family member who resided in their home.
On one occasion it was revealed the male relative came in to watch Catherine shower. He reportedly masturbated while she was crying in the bathtub, Florida Today reports.
The US Department of Family Services had attended the Jones’ home in previous months, on reports the children were being abused. Yet, nothing was done to help them.
It was after social services turned their backs on the children, that the idea of murder came about.
When Catherine revealed to her brother that she wanted to kill her abuser, her father and his fiancee, Curtis agreed to help. He, too, had been abused by the relative.
The pair took their father’s semi-automatic handgun, waited until dinner and shot Ms Speights — a 29-year-old with two daughters of her own.
Related content: Wake up America, you have a gun problem.
According to Catherine, her brother — who pulled the trigger — started having a panic attack. They fled to the nearby woods, where police later found them.
They were initially charged with first-degree murder, but later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
This charge landed them in prison for 18 years.
According to Business Insider, when 12-year-old Curtis was convicted, he asked if he was allowed to take his Nintendo to prison.
Now 29, Curtis is an ordained minister and is set to be freed within weeks.
Read more: You need to hear what Charlie Pickering has to say about Indigenous incarceration.
His sister Catherine will also be freed next month. During her sentence, a Navy sailor heard of her story and became Catherine’s pen pal. The pair fell in love and are now married.
Tragically, the pair have been incarcerated for most of their lives and have been sentenced to remain on probation for their remaining years.
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Top Comments
I'm a bit confused. Apparently, the girl is getting married to a sailor 'The pair fell in love and are now married.
Tragically, the pair have been incarcerated for most of their lives and have been sentenced to remain on probation for their remaining years.' So the sailor has also been incarcerated and is a fellow prisoner or is her and her brother? Why is it a tragedy that they are on probation? It's not necessarily a bad idea to let violent criminals free at some stage but have the ability to get them back in prison as soon as they break any law.
It is mind blowing that children in the USA get tried as adults. Apparently they are the "forgotten one". I heard an American lawyer talking recently saying that their are a couple of thousand people who were sentenced to never be released after being tried as children for crimes that were not necessarily first degree murder (as in, a commutable death sentence) How can you try a 12 year old and never release them. Our judicial system leaves a lot to be desired but really, it functions terrifically in comparison to the States.Good luck to these two. May they one day receive the justice that they actually deserve. When I was about 10 or 11, my 13 year old brother and I tried to push my father head first down the stairs as he had come home drunk once again and we knew that the resulting scene between my parents would be horrific. It seemed like the only solution at the time. Thank goodness he was stronger than us even as blind drunk as he was because we could have killed him. My heart breaks for all the kids suffering at the hands of adults.