Lee Boyd Malvo is a serial killer who has murdered ten people and left seventeen wounded. He and his accomplice were sentenced to life without parole and death sentence, respectively. Malvo was seventeen at the time the crimes happened, so he could not be executed. However, there are debates about whether or not a life without parole sentence is justified. After all, the convict was not an adult when he committed the killing spree, which led some people to believe that he may be granted freedom after twenty years in prison. It is necessary to examine the criminal’s background and motivations to see if letting him back into society is reasonable.
Lee Boyd Malvo was raised in an incomplete family, consisting of him and his mother. His father left them when he was five years old. A nuclear family is one of the best conditions for a proper upbringing. The absence of a father figure may lead to severe consequences if a single parent does not handle the situation right. Evidently, Una James, the murderer’s mother, did not because they often moved from one place to another, and Malvo spent the majority of his childhood with distant relatives. In 1999, after Malvo and his future accomplice Muhammad met and developed a strong friendship, the mother left him to the latter, fleeing to Florida using fake documents. Being raised in an incomplete family is stressful enough but being abandoned by the parent who is supposed to take care of the teenager is infinitely more damaging. This isolation and later conversion to Islam made Malvo view Muhammad as a father figure he was deprived of. As a result, the juvenile was undoubtedly loyal to his new mentor and did not hesitate to commit murders.
In my opinion, granting parole to juvenile prisoners who are guilty of serial killings and proved to be easily persuaded and manipulated is wrong. Even though Malvo was seventeen years old at the time of the murders, he should not be given forgiveness after twenty years in prison. It will only reinforce the idea of young teenagers’ recruitment by terroristic groups being a viable option since, even if they get caught, they will not suffer severe consequences.