GREENSBURG — On Monday, 16-year-old Christopher Williams stood in a wood-paneled St. Helena courtroom and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

The plea came nearly two years after Williams opened fire into a car in the parking lot of St. Helena College and Career Academy, killing 16-year-old Vernon Gordon Jr. and wounding two others. The case, which gripped the tiny St. Helena Parish community, vividly laid bare the gap between the ideals of justice and the messiness of their application, especially when it comes to young offenders.

Williams was just 14 at the time of the crime. And even though he was tried as an adult, as part of his plea, he received a nine-year sentence. That's far shorter than the mandatory life sentence for second-degree murder that adult offenders get.

Before

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