US teen sentenced to life in murder of Britons

A Florida teen has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of two British tourists who had wandered near a government-subsidized housing development, court officials told AFP on Thursday.

Shawn Tyson, now 17 but just 16 at the time of the crimes, was tried as an adult in the case, and will never be eligible for parole, according to the sentence handed down Wednesday by the judge in the west Florida beach town of Sarasota.

Mr Tyson was found guilty by a jury that deliberated less than two hours,” a court spokeswoman told AFP, adding that the teen was sentenced by judge Rick De Furia to two life sentences without parole.

“Because he is under 18, Mr Tyson is ineligible for the death penalty,” she said.

Tyson was arrested in April 2011 in the fatal shooting British vacationers James Cooper, 25, and James Thomas Kouzaris, 24 who had inadvertently wandered far from the popular resort town’s tourist area and into a high-crime residential area.

Relatives for the two men told local media that they were satisfied with the verdict after Cooper and Kouzaris “were so brutally and needlessly” killed.

“Ours is a life sentence, with no chance of parole from a broken heart,” the families’ statement said.

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