Thomas Deboue, sentenced to die for the 1984...

Thomas Deboue, sentenced to die for the 1984 murders of 2 children, will instead serve life in prison, a judge ruled. 
Deboue, 55, is mentally retarded and cannot legally be executed, a federal judge said this month, throwing out the death sentence and sending his case back to state court.
Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Lynda Van Davis gave Deboue a life sentence, without benefit of parole or probation.
Deboue's fate hinged on the 2002 United States Supreme Court decision that executing mentally retarded killers is unconstitutionally cruel.
Deboue had spent almost 20 years on death row at the state prison at Angola when on March 10 his death sentence was "permanently vacated" by U.S. District Court Judge Ginger Berrigan.
Berrigan determined that Deboue is legally retarded and ineligible for the death penalty. Deboue is the 7th Louisiana convict to leave death row in light of the landmark ruling.
Deboue and his brother Edward James Deboue were convicted in the March 30, 1984 murders of Niquika Miller, 6, and Jamal Moore, 12.
Edward Deboue remains in prison, serving life without possibility of parole.