BOISE, Idaho (AP) - An Idaho teen has been sentenced to spend the next 20 years in an adult prison, forcing correction officials to look across the country to find a safe place for the 16-year-old to do his time.
Eldon Samuel III was just 14 when he killed his drug-addicted father and his autistic younger brother in their northern Idaho home. Last week, 1st District Judge Benjamin Simpson sentenced him to spend the next two decades in prison, starting immediately.
But federal laws prohibit minors from being held within sight or sound of adult prison inmates, and currently the only way for Idaho prisons to meet those standards is to place the teen in solitary confinement.
That's got Idaho Department of Correction officials scrambling to find a solution. Deputy Chief of Prisons Ashley Dowell says prison officials hope to find an appropriate placement for him in an out-of-state adult prison with a cell block for juveniles.