Tyler Hadley

In 2011, a then 17-year-old Tyler Hadley of Port St. Lucie, Florida, killed both of his parents with a claw hammer before dragging their bodies to their bedroom. While the bodies of  Mary Jo and Blake Hadley remained in the bedroom, Tyler Hadley threw a party for all of his Facebook friends. He even showed one of his friends the corpses of his murdered parents.

While in prison he gave out autographs to other prisoners signed ‘Hammer Time’ Hadley was charged as an adult and pleaded no contest to their murders. Subsequently, he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. However, his sentence was thrown out after the Supreme Court ruled that minors couldn’t be sentenced to mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Last week a new sentence was handed down for Hadley and it was a lesser sentence, however, it may be unlikely Hadley would ever be a free man. The sentence he received this time was two concurrent life sentences.

The judge presiding over the sentencing had this to say…

“The defendant displayed perverse premeditation, heartless cruelty and savagery, extreme violence, a willingness to mutilate and absolute depravity,” the judge declared. “Considering the victims were blood relatives and were killed up close and personally with a handheld tool, it’s obvious the defendant was fueled by a long, simmering, passionate hatred toward those who loved him the most.”

I’m satisfied that Hadley received two life sentences although I would have preferred them to be served consecutively again. It was also good to see a maniac like this put away for life despite the best efforts of the Supreme Court. Personally, I have no problem with minors being sentenced to LWOP for certain offenses like premeditated murder. If a teenager doesn’t understand that murder is not only illegal but inherently wrong then they’re too stupid to be among the rest of us anyway.

Tyler Hadley

Add Tyler Hadley to the unfortunately growing list of murdering minors who get a second shot at sentencing while their victims are still dead. Hadley was 17 in 2011 when he bludgeoned his parents to death with a hammer in their Port St. Lucie, Florida, Home. He then threw a party that he had invited all his friends to on Facebook while his parents’ corpses laid in their bed. He was tried as an adult and pleaded no contest but not before giving out prison autographs that read  ‘Hammer Time’.

Hadley was sentenced to two life terms, one for each parent, Mary Jo Hadley, 47, and Blake Hadley, 54. Now the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach has ordered that Hadley be resentenced due to the Supreme Court’s ruling that automatic life without parole for minors is unconstitutional.

Hadley’s uncle, Mike Hadley, puts it better than I ever could…

“All I can say is that whatever laws that they are passing to let these young kids under 17 to just do whatever they want and then give them a lighter sentence is insane,” Hadley said during a phone interview. “It makes no sense at all. When somebody can do those horrendous things to another human being and then stand back and laugh about it and have a party over their dead bodies is crazy. You can never let those people out on society again — ever.”

Added Hadley: “He got a lighter sentence because he didn’t get the death penalty. He’s lucky he got what he got.

Not to mention that he obviously has no remorse for his actions. Not only was he trying to parlay his infamy into some kind of badass prison rep but he also pleaded no contest. That means he did not admit any guilt but agreed that the prosecution had enough evidence to convict him.

Like his uncle said, he deserves the death penalty. Anything less than at least one life sentence is a massive miscarriage of justice.

UPDATE 9/20/2017: Hadley’s re-sentencing has been rescheduled until sometime in 2018.