T.I. is among those who are sharing a meme comparing Texas's treatment of TAY-K, who is facing two separate murder trials, and Santa Fe High School shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who gunned down 10 people last week.
Under a Texas law passed in 2013, the maximum sentence for capital murder for those under 18 is a life sentence with the chance of parole after 40 years.
“In Texas, after the Supreme Court’s decision, they passed a law that basically says that it’s a life sentence if you’re under 18 at the time of the crime,” said attorney Amanda Marzullo, executive director of Texas Defender Services. “The Court has said that it is cruel and unusual to execute an individual who is under 18 at the time of the offense.”
So why the discrepancy between the two 17-year-olds? It's likely that TAY-K isn't facing the death penalty either. While there have been rumors and some reporting that he is, none of it has come from reputable news sources.