Woman convicted of murder at age 18 must stay in prison for now, state justices rule

DES MOINES - An Iowa woman convicted at age 18 of a fatal stabbing, who could have been released soon on parole, will have to remain behind bars while officials decide if she will ever get out, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday.

The case involves the fluky, back-and-forth sentencing for Yvette Louisell, now 44. She was a 17-year-old Iowa State University student when she stabbed to death Keith Stilwell, a 40-year-old budget analyst at the National Animal Disease Lab in Ames.

She had met him in an art class where she modeled nude. He hired her to model privately for him at his home.

She asserted at trial that he came at her with a knife and attempted to sexually assault her. She stabbed him in self-defense, she said.

After prosecutors noted that Stilwell was handicapped and could walk only by using canes, a jury didn't buy her account and convicted her of first-degree murder.

At 18, Louisell was sentenced to serve life in prison without parole. She began in 1988.

But years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that certain sentences for juveniles that did not offer a chance of parole - like hers - were unlawful.

In resentencing to take the ruling into account, the state argued judges have only one option - a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

However, at Louisell's resentencing, a judge determined that she had been a model prisoner. The county attorney who originally prosecuted her, and the judge who oversaw the trial, weighed in on her behalf.

The judge sentenced her to 25 years before being eligible for parole - meaning that her release was imminent if the Iowa Board of Parole agreed.

In the ruling Friday, state justices said the judge didn't have the authority under Iowa law to sentence her to a fixed term like that. The state Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower court with instructions to impose a sentence of life in prison with a chance for parole.

It would then be up to the parole board to decide when, and if, Louisell is released.