Divided Supreme Court Overturns State Death Row Conviction

The controversy stems from a Mississippi murder case dating back more than two decades

In 2004, Pitchford, then 18 years old, and Eric Bullins, then 16, carried out a robbery at a grocery store in Grenada, Miss.

During the crime, prosecutors said Bullins fired the shots that killed the store’s white owner, Reuben Britt.

Because Bullins was a juvenile at the time of the offense, he was not eligible for the death penalty under constitutional standards governing juvenile offenders.