Meet The 12-year-old Who Was Sentenced To 25-Years In Prison

Paul Henry Gingerich is enduring an entirely different reality in
juvenile prison.

In 2010, at the age of 12, Paul from Enchanted Hills, Indiana, was
sentenced to 25-years in prison for his part in shooting dead a
friend's stepfather.

Paul's life was turned upside down on a fateful day in April 2010,
when he turned from an ordinary kid to a killer.

Paul regretted not going home the day he and his friends, Colt Lundy,
15, and Chase Williams had planned to runaway to Arizona.
That was when Colt, 15, told them his stepfather Phil Danner would not
allow it. So they decided to kill him first.

Colt gave Paul a loaded gun, while 12-year-old Chase refused to go
inside and stayed outside, Colt and Paul crept into the house through
a window and sat in armchairs and waited for Phil to walk into the
room.

The court documents say Paul told police he simply went along with his
older friend and didn't believe his friend was serious about killing
his stepfather.

Paul described how he pulled the trigger,
"Phil turned the corner and then he (Colt) shot him. I freaked out and
closed my eyes and turned around and shot."

While his crime was undoubtedly terrible, what is perhaps equally
shocking is that despite his age, Paul was tried as an adult and is
now not due to be released until he is 37.

In Indiana, under extreme circumstances, children as young as 10 can
be tried and sentenced in adultcourts. However it is rare and Paul
remains one of the youngest ever to be tried in this fashion.

Paul is now 15-years-old, and was sentenced in 2010, to 25-years in
prison, for conspiring to fatally shoot 49-year-old Phil Danner.

As it is now, Paul is due to spend the next 3-years in juvenile
facility before being transferred to Indiana notoriously tough, Adult
Prison system.

That is he will be moving to Adult Prison when he turns 18. And will
be free when he turns 37.

Paul's mother Nicole said: 'I'm in disbelief with the whole thing.
'Surely if you had an adult male or female who had the brain capacity
of a 12-year-old, they would not be tried as an adult.'

His father Paul Senior, said:
'I never wanted him to get off scot free. He did commit a crime and I
don't want people to see him as a victim because Phil Danner was the
victim in this case.

'But you can't throw a child in with adults and expect him not to get
screwed up.'

His attorney, Monica Foster, said:
'You really can't appreciate just how horrific the adult prison system
is unless you've been there.
'For the last 30 years I've been in and out of the adult prison system
in the State of Indiana and I wouldn't let my dog go there for a week,
much less a 12-year-old kid.'