Teen Who Killed Classmate for Refusing to Be His Prom Date Gets a Lenient Penalty

The teenager who stabbed his classmate to death for refusing to be his prom date was finally sentenced by the court. However, his sentence of spending time behind bars for 13 years is considered by many as lenient, as compared to the gravity of his offense.

Eighteen-year-old Christopher Plaskon availed of a plea deal which lowered the number of years he'll be imprisoned, according to NY Post. The prosecution was originally asking for 25 years and Plaskon was sentenced to almost half of that.

In 2014, he was charged with murdering his classmate, Maren Sanchez, when the girl spurned his invite to their school's junior prom. According to NY Daily News, a witness saw Plaskon stab Sanchez on the neck, face and chest. He tried to get him off the girl but was unsuccessful in doing so.

Reports have it that the troubled teenager admitted to the crime without any hesitation. He told the police, "I did it. Just arrest me," a couple of minutes after killing Sanchez. He also reportedly brought the knife to school from home, and ditched it after the stabbing incident.

Under Connecticut law, since Plaskon was a minor at the time of the commission of the crime, he was sentenced under the Juvenile Justice Act, which would render Plaskon scot-free after serving 60 percent of the entire sentence. And since the time he spent in the juvenile facility forms part of his sentence, he would be able to walk free when he reaches 31.

While the family of Sanchez has signed off on the deal, Jarrod Butts, who was the real prom date of Sanchez at that time said, "I don't believe the sentence fits the crime at all." He added: "I would have liked it to be for at least 40 years. The pain he caused is not justified by 25 years. I could never see this coming."