Iowa teenager who killed teacher must serve 35 years before being eligible for parole

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa teenager who pleaded guilty to beating his high school Spanish teacher to death with a baseball bat must serve 35 years in prison before being eligible for parole, confirmed State Supreme Court again on Friday.

Willard Miller was 16 when he and another teenager killed Nohema Graber, a 66-year-old teacher at Fairfield High School, in 2021. Miller was sentenced last year to life in prison with a mandatory minimum number of years served, but appealed a ruling to the Iowa Supreme Court on the grounds that it was unconstitutional to sentence juvenile offenders to a minimum term before they could be eligible for parole .

The state Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the district court's decision, finding that the court's precedent expressly allows mandatory minimum sentences for juvenile offenders as long as the unique factors of their case are taken into account. The judges said the district court judge applied the sentencing standards appropriately.

However, the Iowa Constitution prohibits juvenile offenders from being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Miller and Jeremy Goodale, sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years, killed Graber on November 2, 2021, in a park where the teacher regularly went for walks after school. Prosecutors said the teens were angry at Graber because she gave Miller a bad grade.

The two were charged as adults, but due to their ages, they were not given a sentence of life without parole for first-degree murder.

At his trial, Miller accepted responsibility and apologized. His lawyers argued that he should be granted immediate parole. Prosecutors recommended a minimum of 30 years.

Fairfield, a town of 9,400 residents, is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Des Moines.