AUGUSTA (AP) – The father of a 14-year-old girl who was murdered nearly 18 months ago in Fayette by a neighbor her same age says he is honoring his daughter’s memory by helping to craft legislation that would affect the sentencing of some juvenile offenders.

Ted Johnston said it’s wrong for juveniles who have committed even the most despicable crimes to be placed in adult prisons. He has been working on legislation drafted by the Attorney General’s Office that would require blended sentences for the youngest offenders.

Remembering his daughter Marlee as kind and compassionate, Johnston said he is trying to pay homage to that part of her through his own actions.

“We don’t need to be abandoning people – even when they did something as horrible as Patrick (Armstrong) did,” Johnston said, referring to Marlee’s killer.

Armstrong confessed to bludgeoning Marlee to death with a baseball bat on Nov. 26, 2005, as the two walked her dogs near their homes. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter last December and was handed a 16-year prison term.

He will begin serving that sentence after his release from a juvenile facility in Charleston, where he has been confined since his conviction. Armstrong’s transfer to state prison will probably come between ages 18 and 21.

Armstrong’s admission to juvenile crimes of burglary and break-ins made it possible for the judge to give him the blended sentence. Otherwise, current law would have required that he be sent immediately to an adult prison.

“I don’t think that’s right,” Johnston said. “I know Marlee wouldn’t either, so to honor her memory we had to make a change.”

Under the bill that Johnston helped develop, those under 16 who are tried and convicted as adults would be placed in juvenile facilities until they turn 18, and only then be transferred to adult prisons to complete their sentences.

Deputy Attorney General William Stokes said the legislation addresses the rare circumstance of someone very young committing a very serious offense.

“The dilemma we faced with Armstrong was we had a very young victim, and very young suspect who was also 14, who committed a horrendous act and very serious crime,” Stokes said.

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