Fayetteville child killer gets life sentence - again

                              Chris Segerstrom
Chris Segerstrom


FAYETTEVILLE -- Chris Segerstrom has been resentenced to life in prison by a Washington County Circuit Court jury for a murder that occurred more than 36 years ago.

Segerstrom was 15 years old July 26, 1986, when he took 4-year-old Barbara Thompson into a wooded area behind the Lewis Plaza Apartments several blocks west of the University of Arkansas. He sexually assaulted her before bashing her head with a 40-pound rock and suffocated her.

Segerstrom, now 51, was convicted of capital murder by a jury in 1987 and sentenced to life at the Arkansas Department of Correction without the possibility of parole. He's been confined ever since.

Segerstrom's murder conviction has never been in jeopardy. But, the U.S. and Arkansas supreme courts in recent years have made a series of rulings juveniles can't be automatically sentenced to life without parole.

The jury deliberated about 30 minutes before reaching a sentencing recommendation.


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