GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A convicted killer who was 17 when he raped, stabbed and strangled a woman at a Grand Rapids park has again lost a bid to have his sentence overturned for the 1999 crime.
The Michigan Court of Appeals this week let stand the life without parole sentence given to Marc Anthony Osborne, now 39.
Osborne was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Jessica Ledford. Her body was found in Highland Park off College Avenue NE in May of 1999.
Investigators say she was beaten, raped, strangled and stabbed.
Osborne was sentenced in 2000 to mandatory life without parole. That sentence was upended when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life terms for juveniles was unconstitutional. Life sentences are still an option, they just can’t be mandatory for juveniles.
He is one of 13 juvenile killers the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office said should never get out of prison.
An 11-page court of appeals decision this week said Judge Mark Trusock did not abuse his discretion in 2018 when he decided that Osborne should stay in prison for life.
“I believe that you have to deal with the consequences of your actions,’’ Trusock said at the time. “I believe that you were only 50 days from being an 18-year-old. And that would be totally different if you were 12, 13 or 14.’’
Osborne is serving his life sentence at a state prison in Ionia.
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