Hello, folks.
This is Miles McDaniel. I am one of Alanna's parents.
I know that a lot of people here likely still have questions as to what went on, that the news outlets either didn't cover, or covered poorly, and so I wanted to come here and answer what questions I could.
I have been reading these threads since the day after Alanna was murdered. I found the site when I was doing a Google search for her name, because we were frustrated with how little the police were actually telling us. And I saw both the parts where people were not-quite-accusing the family of some level of guilt and participation in this horrible crime, as well as the people who stepped in, and enforced the rules regarding treatment of the victims' families. I thank the latter group, and hope that the former group will remember this, and keep an open mind in the future.
I can guess as to at least a couple of the questions that people will have, and will go ahead and answer them here.
1) Why did he plead to a lesser charge / why didn't the prosecutors press for the Capital Murder charge?
a) The Supreme Court declared that it was no longer permissible to sentence anybody under 18 to either the death penalty, or life without possibility of parole. The Texas laws at that time only allowed for one of two penalties for Capital Murder: Death, or Life Without Parole. These laws did not *allow* any other option. Shortly after the decision came down from the Supreme Court, the Texas Legislature worked to update these laws, to allow for other sentences in the cases where the previous ones were not permitted. We were told that the gap between these two dates was approximately three weeks, and Alanna's murder happened within that gap. This means that, at the time this crime was committed, there was no specified sentencing for 17-year-olds who committed Capital Murder in Texas. Had the prosecution insisted on a Capital Murder charge, then the sentencing would have been the judge's discretion, rather than guided by the requirements of the law, and could have resulted in a significantly shorter sentence. Given that he was willing to accept fairly lengthy terms on the charges, the prosecutors did not feel the chance of a longer sentence balanced the cost of a trial, nor the chances of a shorter sentence.
2) What are the details of the sentence he received?
a) Twenty years for arson, and life for murder, to be run concurrently. Forty years for attempted murder, to be run consecutively. Texas law states that an individual who is eligible for parole will receive parole hearings starting after either one-half of the sentence, or thirty years, whichever is shorter. This means that the arson charge will be eligible for parole after ten years, and completed after twenty, both of which are before the first eligibility for parole for the murder charge, which will be at thirty years. Should he be paroled for the murder charge, then the sentence for the attempted murder charge will commence, and he will not be eligible for parole for that charge until at least twenty more years pass. As a result, even if he is paroled at the first opportunity for both of the greater charges, he will serve a minimum of fifty years.
If there are any other questions, I will try to answer them, if I can. We appreciate the sympathies we have received from this community, and the efforts you made in keeping abreast of any new information, as well as the consideration you offered us.
- Miles
