Las Vegas Sun

June 28, 2024

Teen faces life sentence in killing of teacher

Philip Chism

Mark Lorenz / The Boston Herald via AP

This Dec. 14, 2015, file photo shows Philip Chism appearing in Salem Superior Court, during closing arguments. The Massachusetts teenager convicted of raping and killing his high school math teacher faces a sentence of up to life in prison when a judge hands out his punishment.

Click to enlarge photo

Danvers High School teacher Colleen Ritzer seen in this undated photo provided by the family of Ritzer. Fourteen-year-old high school student Philip Chism was accused of killing Ritzer, a well-liked math teacher at Danvers High School, in Danvers, Mass., whose body was found in the woods behind the school.

SALEM, Mass. — A Massachusetts teenager convicted of raping and killing his high school math teacher faces a sentence of up to life in prison when a judge hands out his punishment.

Philip Chism was convicted in December in the 2013 death of Danvers High School teacher Colleen Ritzer. He's scheduled to be sentenced Friday in Salem Superior Court.

The 17-year-old Chism faces life on the murder charge, but would be eligible for parole after 15 to 25 years because he was a 14-year-old juvenile at the time of the killing. He also faces lengthy sentences on charges of aggravated rape and robbery. Prosecutors have asked that he stay in prison for at least 50 years.

The defense admitted Chism killed Ritzer, but said he was suffering from severe mental illness and wasn't criminally responsible for his actions.

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