Lee Boyd Malvo, who was 17 when he took part in the deadly 2002 "D.C. Sniper"
shooting spree in the
Washington area, will get a chance to seek parole in
Virginia following a change in state law enacted on Monday, preempting a U.S.
Supreme Court ruling on the matter.
The change, signed by
Democratic Governor Ralph Northam, allows people like Malvo, now 35, who were sentenced to life in
prison without the possibility of parole for offenses committed before age 18 to ask for release after 20 years.
Malvo, who is incarcerated in a supermax state prison in Virginia's Wise County, and an older accomplice, John Allen Muhammad, were convicted in the shootings in which 10 people were killed.