SPOKANE, Wash – As a convicted double murderer is resentenced in Spokane County this week, we’re learning of other killers who have had their sentences changed because of a state supreme court decision regarding their age.
A judge resentenced Justin Crenshaw this week for the murders of two people in Spokane in 2008. Crenshaw was initially given life without parole, but a Washington Supreme Court decision in 2021 required him to come back to court to redo it.
The Monschke decision says offenders under the age of 21 need to have their age considered and shouldn’t be given fixed life sentences because their brains may not be fully developed.
Crenshaw was 20 years and two months old when he killed 18-year-old Sarah Clark and 20-year-old Tanner Pehl.
He has committed other violent acts while in prison, including strangling his cellmate.
A judge ultimately kept his sentence in place, requiring him to spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole.
Analysis of criminal cases shows fewer than 30 people were eligible for resentencing under this decision.
Other killers resentenced
The Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office cites six cases, including Crenshaw, that have required resentencing.
One of those cited was Caleb Sharpe, the student who murdered one classmate and injured three others in a shooting at Freeman High School.
His case was slightly different, in that he was 15 when he committed the crime.
He was initially sentenced to a minimum of 40 years in prison, but was resentenced and given 25 years to life.
Cheyenne Brown was resentenced in December 2024.
He was 20 years old in 1997 when he killed a couple that had helped him in his time of need. A judge initially sentenced him in to serve two life sentences without the possibility of parole.
When he was resentenced, a judge gave him two 46-year sentences to be served concurrently.
Daniel Edwards was also resentenced for crimes he committed when he was 20 years old. Edwards murdered his friend in 1987 and raped the friend’s girlfriend.
He pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty and was initially sentenced to life without parole.
Edwards was resentenced in 2024 to 60 years in prison with credit for time served.
Brandon Martin was convicted of killing two people and trying to kill another in 2003 when he was 19 years old. He was sentenced to two life terms without parole and an additional 27 years for the attempted murder and a weapons enhancement.
In September 2024, he was resentenced to 30 years in prison.
There is one more defendant left to resentence in Spokane County.
Bryan Kim was a 19-year-old student at Mt. Spokane High School when he killed his parents in 2006.
Kim is serving a life sentence without parole.
Since his incarceration, Kim has been living by the name Amber and is listed as female in Department of Corrections records, but is being housed at a men’s prison in Monroe.
There is no date set for Kim’s resentencing.
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