17-Year-Old Boy Admits To Fatally Strangling And Dumping The Body Of His Half Sister
The family of an 18-year-old Michigan woman who was strangled to death by her half-brother is seeking the maximum sentence.
While appearing in Grand Rapids Circuit Court on Monday, Savon Schmus, 17, admitted to killing his half-sister McKenna Hilton on August 18, 2016. Schmus, who plead guilty to first-degree premeditated murder, faces up to 60 years in prison, reported Michigan Live.
Schmus, who was 16 at the time of the killing, strangled Hilton then dumped her body on the side of a road near a lake.
Hilton's mother, Stacey Hilton, wants Schmus to be given a life sentence. However, 2012 U.S. Supreme Court cases Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs determined mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles violated their Eighth Amendment right to protection against cruel and unusual punishment.
"If anyone deserves life in prison, it would be him," Stacey told Michigan Live. "What he did was evil. It was heinous. [McKenna Hilton] is missed every day. He took our life and destroyed it.”
After Monday's hearing was adjourned, Stacey Hilton shouted, "Rot in Hell, Savon."
Schmus' father, who he shared with Hilton, and other family members sat on the opposite side of the courtroom as the victim’s family.
Circuit Judge George Quist will sentence Schmus on Oct. 30.