The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has ordered that two juveniles from the Wiregrass who were sentenced to death be given life without parole.

The Appeals Court on Friday sent the cases of James Willis Bonds and Shaber Chamon Wimberly back to Circuit Court Judge Ed Jackson with instructions that they be resentenced following a ruling in February by the U.S. Supreme Court which struck down a provision allowing states to execute juvenile offenders.

The decision ended the practice in 19 states which allowed juveniles above 16 to be executed for capital murder and throws out the death sentences of 72 murderers who were under 18 at the time they committed their crimes.

The age of eligibility for execution in Alabama was 16. Alabama has 196 inmates on Death Row, 14 of whom were juveniles when they committed murder.

"We knew they were coming back," said Houston County District Attorney Doug Valeska. "I’m not surprised. The Supreme Court said we can’t kill people under 18. It’s bad law but it’s the law of the land."

Bonds, was 16 years old when he and an accomplice robbed and murdered Norman Manning, beating his face repeatedly with a blunt weapon before shooting him in the head at close range in 1999.

Wimberly was convicted of capital murder for the June 24, 1997 killing of 63-year-old Mary Spivey in Columbia. He was also convicted in the deaths of retired state trooper Max King and his wife, Johneen, who were killed in their Midland City home. Wimberly was 17 at the time of the killings.

Valeska described Bonds as a "killing machine" and said the ruling gives 16 and 17 year olds a license to kill because they can’t face the ultimate punishment.

"It’s very discouraging when you have 16 and 17 year olds that are committing the worst crimes we have on the books against our citizens," Valeska said. "It’s just terrible. But I don’t make the law. There’s nothing I can do. It’s very discouraging and I feel sorry for the families."

Jackson now has 28 days to resentence Bonds and Wimberly.

The case will then go back to the appeals court which will look at the guilt phase of the conviction.

Attorney Scott Hedeen, who represented Bonds, said it was a relief for his client, but added the process isn’t over yet for Bonds.

"I feel good for all of the reasons spelled out by the court," Hedeen said. "We’ll see what the rest of it brings."

Hedeen said the Supreme Court’s ruling will actually strengthen death penalty laws in the country, not weaken them.

"The prosecution will actually benefit from these types of cases because the more the courts limit those people that are capable of getting the death penalty, ultimately the stronger it will be," Hedeen said.