Stevens sentenced: life without parole

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - The case that led to the creation of a statewide sex offender registry was back in a Tippecanoe County courtroom today.

A federal appeals court overturned the death penalty sentence of Christopher Stevens.

Christopher Stevens has been on death row since a Tippecanoe County jury convicted him of the rape and murder of 10-year-old Zachary Snider.

Today a judge took steps to ensure Stevens will stay behind bars.

The 1993 case was moved to Tippecanoe County because of pre-trial publicity.

A federal appeal court overturned the death penalty ruling.

The court said the defense did not provide adequate evidence about Stevens' mental illness.

Today Stevens appeared before Judge Thomas H. Busch where Stevens was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Zachary Snider's sister Nicole Speer made a statement to Stevens and the court saying Stevens destroyed her family.

"I'm just glad it's finally done and over with," said Speer. "It's been 16 years and we've been dealing with it every day. The new sentence is finally an end."

Putnam County Prosecutor Tim Bookwalkter said that while the new sentence wasn't what the prosecution wanted, it allows Zachary Snider's family to leave the courtroom.

"When Zach was going to tell on him, he murdered him not once but three times. He first tried to strangle him with a pillow. That didn't work. He put a Sega Genisus cord around his neck and when that didn't work, he finally bagged his head. There's no doubt in my mind he knew what he was doing. He was afraid he was going to get caught and go back to prison. In my opinion there would've been no doubt a jury would have given the death penalty. The problem for us would've been another appeal, another 15 years starting and mom and dad just didn't want to go through with it. I'm mean there was no closure to this deal," said Bookwalter.

Steven apologized to Zachary's family during the hearing. He said, "I know my words are hollow right now. I know my apology will not penetrate your anger. I had no right to interfere with Zachary's life...I hope this allows you to have some sort of peace."

"The only thing he had right about the apology was that it was hollow. And I thought it was hollow and I didn't think anything of it. I didn't even look at him through the apology. Didn't mean anything to me," Speer said.

Speer holds on to the memories she has of her younger brother.

"He was awesome. He was my best friend. So I'll just always remember him with a big smile on his face," Speer said.

This case gained statewide attention and eventually led to the creation of Zachary's Law.

It requires convicted sex offenders to register with local police within a week of moving into a neighborhood.