Delaware Code

11 Del. C. § 4209A (2026)

Punishment for first-degree murder committed by juvenile offenders

✓ current as of May 2026

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Any person who is convicted of first-degree murder for an offense that was committed before the person had reached the person’s eighteenth birthday shall be sentenced to term of incarceration not less than 25 years to be served at Level V up to a term of imprisonment for the remainder of the person’s natural life to be served at Level V without benefit of probation or parole or any other reduction.

79 Del. Laws, c. 37, § 3;

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 2014–2025 · leading case: State of Delaware v. Luis Reyes (Del. Super. Ct. 2016).

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State of Delaware v. Luis Reyes (Del. Super. Ct. 2016). “101 11 Del. C. § 4209A, entitled Punishment for first-degree murder committed by juvenile offenders, provides: Any person who is convicted of first-degree murder for an offense that was committed before the person had reached the person’s eighteenth birthday shall be sentenced…”

Waples v. State (Del. 2021). “11 Del. C. § 4209A. The State noted this during Waples’s plea colloquy.”

State v. Wharton (Del. Super. Ct. 2024). “See 11 Del. C. § 4209A; 11 Del. C. § 1447A(b); see supra note 65.”

Brisco v. State (Del. 2025). “8 The Superior Court described Brisco’s life sentences for first-degree murder as minimum mandatory sentences, but under 11 Del. C. § 4209A the sentencing range for a juvenile who commits first-degree murder is twenty-five years to life imprisonment.”

Desmond v. State (Del. 2014). “12 That Desmond’s multiple convictions and sentences will effectively keep him behind bars for the remainder of his life does not mean that the Superior Court illegally imposed a sentence of life imprisonment.”

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