The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal has upheld a 4th Judicial District Court’s decision to hold a teenaged killer in Angola for life without parole in what lead felony prosecutor Geary Aycock called one of the most “well-reasoned, best-written” opinions he’s ever read.

In the opinion released Wednesday, Judge Jeannette Garrett praised 4th Judicial District Judge Daniel Ellender and upheld the two life sentences given to Dalton Fletcher for the 2010 murder of his parents.

Garrett recounted evidence presented at trial, explained why the sentence was appropriate for Fletcher, who was a juvenile at the time of the crime, and dismissed claims the sentence was unconstitutional.

Garrett refuted Fletcher’s claims of abuse at the hands of his father, noting that he showed no remorse about the murders and would be a danger to society if released.

Fletcher was arrested Sept. 10 on two counts of second-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his parents, John and Tammy Fletcher.

Ouachita Parish sheriff’s investigators said Fletcher shot his mother and father in their home in the late hours of Sept. 9 and threatened to shoot his sister. The next morning, Fletcher put the gun in the trunk of his mother’s car, drove to West Ouachita High School and attended class.

Ouachita deputies put the school on lockdown and apprehended Fletcher without incident.

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