Two convicted in murder of teens sentenced to life

DETROIT (AP) - Two men convicted in the 2012 slayings of two suburban Detroit teens who authorities say went into the city to buy drugs were sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole. Fredrick Young, 26 and Felando Hunter, 24, were arrested last year. They were convicted in December of first-degree murder, torture and armed robbery in the deaths of 17-year-old Jourdan Bobbish and 18-year-old Jacob Kudla of Westland. Young and Hunter received the mandatory terms for the first-degree murder convictions. Kudla, a Schoolcraft College student, and Bobbish, a high school senior, were described by their families as like brothers. They were last seen when they left the Detroit home of Kudla's uncle in July 2012. The teens were missing for five days before their bodies were found in a trash-strewn field overgrown by weeds near Detroit's city airport, not far from the drug house where they were forced into a car's trunk. They'd been shot in the head. "I stand here today broken inside," Bobbish's mother, Carrie Bobbish, said before the sentencing by Wayne County Circuit Judge Dalton Roberson. "I have sorrow in my heart, soul and every fiber of my being today, and I will carry that with me for the rest of my life here on Earth." She described her son as a "typical 17-year-old boy. He never felt danger." "He loved the city of Detroit, never worried about being there," the mother said. "He had no fear. He never felt in danger or thought he would be hurt, let alone murdered." Addressing Young before the sentencing, Virgie Kudla told her son's killer that he "took away my future, my future as a mother." Michael Bobbish said his son was unafraid to go into the city even though he warned him to "stay out of Detroit because it wasn't a good place." Before he was sentenced, Young made an attempt to tie his case to the nationwide protests against race-related police brutality. "I'd like to say sorry to the family of Aiyana Jones, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and I want to apologize for them for not being able to get justice for their loved ones who were murdered in cold blood," Young said. "And in respect for the peaceful protest, I want to say, 'Hands up. Don't shoot. Black lives matter.'" There was no indication that he has been the victim of police violence. Hunter didn't speak. He already is serving life sentences for two previous murders. Published: Fri, Jan 23, 2015