Their judgment has not developed. Conyers' father was a drug trafficker who beat him and was known as the town bully, court records show. Hughes' parents abandoned him. Powers, always looking to please people, confessed to a number of crimes police believe he did not do before confessing to murder, his case file shows. Don Zelenka, a lawyer with the state Attorney General's Office who handles death penalty appeals for the state, could not be reached for comment, but he said in a debate on the issue last year that if the circumstances of the crime justify the penalty, it should be given regardless of age, he said.
Age is one of many factors juries consider in weighing the penalty.
Generally, the age to be tried as an adult in South Carolina is 17, with the option of handling the matter in adult court for younger defendants if the crime is heinous enough. In a ruling in 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court said states should not execute defendants 15 and younger. The Arkansas legislature on Thursday defeated a proposal to increase the age to 17. The federal government does not allow the death penalty for anyone younger than 18. Rep. Joe Neal, a Democrat from Hopkins and one of the sponsors of the legislation to set the age at 17, said it is a statement of cynicism and resignation that the state would allow such executions.