15-Year-Old Gets Life for Killing Friend

March 15 -- A second Florida boy has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison for playing what turned out to be a deadly game.

John Silva, 15, was convicted of first-degree murder for binding a playmate with elastic bandages and wire so tightly that he suffocated. Today he received the mandatory sentence of life in jail without parole. Had he been an adult, he could have faced the death penalty.

Last week, Lionel Tate, 14, received the same sentence for killing a 6-year-old girl by flinging her around a room so hard she suffered a fractured skull, ruptured kidney, broken rib and 32 other injuries. Tate said he was imitating professional wrestling moves.

The victim, 12-year-old Jerry Lee Alley Jr., was reported missing on May 26, and a massive search was mounted in the pine barrens around the northeast Florida town of Interlachen, where he lived.

His body was found three days later in an abandoned septic tank, and police also found a list of instructions on how the boy was killed, even naming the victim.

Confession, But No Explanation

Silva confessed to the crime, saying he kidnapped Alley, took him into the woods, and then stripped, bound and gagged him. When he realized that Alley had died, he dumped the boy's body and his bicycle in the septic tank. But he never explained why he did it.

In Tate's case, the district attorney who prosecuted the case said after the sentencing that he would support a clemency request that was being prepared to be sent to Gov. Jeb Bush.

The man who prosecuted Silva had no such feelings for the defendant.

Assistant State Attorney Garry Wood told The Associated Press that he believed that Silva would only kill again if he were released.

"John Silva is getting what he deserved," Wood said.

The jury was given the option of considering charges of manslaughter or second-degree murder in addition to first-degree murder, as in the Tate trial. Silva will be held in a juvenile facility until he turns 21, and then be transferred to an adult facility.