Appeals court upholds Lionel Tate's 30-year sentence

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- An appeals court has upheld the 30-year probation violation sentence for convicted child killer Lionel Tate, and he could now get life in prison at an upcoming trial on unrelated robbery charges.

Tate, 20, had sought to have the sentence thrown out based on procedural mistakes in court, his attorney, Jim Lewis, said Thursday. The 4th District Court of Appeal declined to reverse it Wednesday.

He violated probation by acknowledging in a plea that he had a gun in another incident before the robbery. He was under supervision for his murder conviction in the 1999 beating death of 6-year-old Tiffany Eunick, Lewis said.

Tate was 12 at the time of the killing and became the youngest person in modern U.S. history to receive a life sentence. His lawyers initially claimed Tate killed the girl while imitating pro wrestling moves.

Read more: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071025/APN/710250782

How sad.