19 July 2017 :

Judge Lawton McIntosh resentenced William Bell to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years. Bell, 48, Black, was sentenced to death in 1989 for the 1988 murder of Dennis Hepler, 35, during a robbery. Bell and co-defendant Kevin Young were given death penalties. Investigators said Young was the trigger man. He was executed in 2000. At the time of Bell's murder conviction in 1988, a person convicted of murder could either be punished by death, or by life imprisonment. In November of 2016, following the change in the law and a motion by his defense attorneys, Bell was granted post-conviction relief and his death sentence was vacated. Bell was found to be intellectually disabled under criteria laid out by the United States Supreme Court, which meant he could not be executed. Since Bell was determined to be ineligible for the death penalty due to the change in the law, his prior death sentence was vacated. Judge Lawton McIntosh resentenced Bell on Wednesday to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years. Bell has already served 20 years, and now a parole board will review his case to decide if he will be allowed to leave prison, the judge said.