Update:
A judge denied the resentencing request for Nathan Ramazzini, the Colusa County District Attorney’s office confirms.
Ramazzini was only 17-years-old when he was convicted to life in prison without parole, for the 1997 killing his friend, 16-year-old Erik Ingebretsen. Though, under California’s Senate Bill 9, passed in 2013, Ramazzini was eligible for to have that sentence reconsidered, since he was under 18 at the time of the murder.
An official statement from the family for Ingebretsen on the judge’s decision has not yet been released.
Original:
Nathan Ramazzini was 17-years-old when he was convicted to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1997 killing his friend, 16-year-old Erik Ingebretsen.
Another teen and friend, Leopoldo Contreras, was also convicted of having taken part in Ingebretsen’s killing, and was sentenced to 25-years to life in prison.
Ramazzini’s sentence was harsher because he was believed to have been the one who orchestrated the planned murder, for which no motive had been given. Now 38-years-old, Ramazzini is pleading to a Colusa County judge this week to have his sentence reconsidered.
“I felt like a monster,” Ramazzini testified in front of a packed courthouse. “I know I am not a monster today.”
The man who has spent 21-years in prison for his crime, was able to apply for a new sentence under a California state law that took effect in 2013. Senate Bill 9 gives the opportunity of a second chance for those who were convicted to life without parole for crimes they committed before the age of 18.
Elizabeth Calvin with the group Human Right’s Watch says her group supports the bill because it provides fair sentencing for youth.
“Life without parole is exactly what says,” Calvin said. “It is a sentence to die in prison.”
The United States is the only country in the world that sentences juveniles to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to the Sentencing Project. However, the former Colusa County District Attorney who prosecuted Ramazzini’s case argues that he does not deserve a second chance.
“First of all, he’s never shown remorse,” Poyner said. “He didn’t back then and I don’t think he has shown it to this day. I think he’s a manipulative murderer.”
The family of the teen victim who was beat and stabbed to death is decrying the man’s re-sentencing. They say it feels like the justice received more than 20 years ago is being stripped away.
“We hope people are rehabilitated. I can’t say that that’s happened,” said Steve Collins, Erik’s uncle.
On the second day of the re-sentencing hearing, Ramazzini testified that Contreras convinced him to murder Ingebretsen.
Ramazzini testified that his close group of friends had burglarized and vandalized the local high school and businesses. Ramazzini testified that Ingebretsen had witnessed the crimes and was going to tell. So, Contreras said he had to be”taken care of,” Ramazzini testified.
However, the victim’s family said that was the same story Contreras gave more than 20 years ago. The hearing is expected to pick back up again on Friday at the Colusa County Courthouse.
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