Teens who stabbed classmate to death released from jail, only served 9 of 26 years

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A California family is reeling after their son's killer was released from prison last week — and, they said, intends to settle back into their neighborhood — under a controversial new state law that prohibits minors from being charged as adults, regardless of the severity of their crime.

Jae Williams, now 29, was sentenced to 26 years behind bars in 2014 for the stabbing death of Santa Teresa High School classmate Michael Russell, 15. Williams, then 15, and co-conspirator Randy Thompson, 16, lured Russell to his own backyard under the guise of smoking marijuana in 2009 and took turns stabbing him to death.

Local media dubbed the tragedy a "thrill killing" because Williams and Thompson wanted to experience what it felt like to kill someone, per NBC Bay Area. Both teens were initially convicted on murder charges.

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The two teens had journals where they drew doodles and wrote descriptions of horrific acts, The Mercury News reported, and meticulously planned the Nov. 10, 2009 killing.

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Williams' attorney argued in court that the fact that his client earned a high school diploma, read 400 books while incarcerated and had no record of violence while locked up showed that he needed no further rehabilitation before his release.

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