Unraveling in the spotlight . But first the nightline 5. The nissan rogue with the power and performance of our intuitive allwheel drive. Now get a 189 per month lease seconds. Good evening. Tonight the story of five young men who did an admittedly stupid thing. They broke into what they thought was an empty home and critics say what happened next was injustice. The boys were charged and convicted of felony murder even though none of them pulled the trigger. My nightline coanchor juju chang had been following this case for years and tonight shes right there for major new developments. Oh my gosh. I dont want him sitting there another minute. Reporter for april erdos, the drive to wabash prison i one she knows far too well. Three years, three months, someodd days. Reporter the many long days this mothers been fighting for the freedom of her 20yearold son levi. You cant explain what it feels like. It comes down to the love you have for your child. Thats what makes it hurt so bad. Reporter levi was sentenced to 50 years in prison for felony murder, even though he didnt pull the trigger. He didnt even have a gun. I just want to see his face. Thats going to be a kodak reporter more than 250 miles away in elkhart, indiana, levis life was forever changed on a fall day in 2012. He was hanging out with four of his friends. Among them 21yearold Denzel Johnson and 16yearold blake layman. Got off school that day. We ended up talking. Coming up with dumbass plans. Excuse my language. Reporter the plan was to rob an empty house. Why an empty house . It was just a plan to get quick money, it was never a practicen to hurt anyone or confront anyone. Were any of your armed . No. Reporter they settled on this house across the street. Youre convinced nobodys inside . We had knocked beforehand. I mean, not like not just rung the doorbell, knocked. Reporter while the four teens entered the house they thought was empty levi stayed on the porch at a lookout. You didnt say, hey, fellows, this is a bad idea . I could have. There was a boom and my whole house shook. Reporter the testimony of rodney scott, homeowner. He was home. Upstairs taking a nap. Fear coming over you and you dont know if youre going to get hurt or if youre going to get killed. Thats when i decided i was going to fire my gun and try to trap them. I heard a bang. And then i heard another bang. And then i heard a couple more bangs afterward. Turn around and run away from the gun. Felt something warm. Came up with a handful of blood. Thats when you realized you were shot . Thats when is. Ed i was shot. Thats the hole. The entry wound there is reporter then blake realized his friend denzel was slumped next to him, shot in the chest, bleeding heavily. He died in your arms . He died in between, like right in betweene and jose. I remember screaming im sorry over and over again. To whom were you sorry . The homeowner, i was sorry you know. It was a bad situation. I was sorry for it all. Reporter his friends called him for help. I stepped inside the door, looked over, the guy was holding the gun at me. I threw my hands open, he told me to get out of his house, i said im sorry and took off. Reporter one week later they called me and said hed been arrested for murder. Reporter thats right. Murder. Felony murder. Because when someones killed during certain crimes, in this case burglary, everyone committing that crime can be held responsible. Even though none of them pulled the trigger or even had a gun. Even levi. Who was just the lookout. I didnt really comprehend it. I didnt put my mind around what i was really about to go through. The point of the felony murder law is basically to say, you bring a gun to a robbery . And someone ends up getting killed . Then youre going to be held responsible forhat persons death. Wh makes this case different is that none of them had weapons. None of them were violent. And anyone of them killed reporter in this case the homeowner, rodney scott, the man who pulled the trigger, was never charged with wrongdoing. Scott was so haunted by what happened there he never lived in the house again. One of the four, 16yearold jose cueros, took a plea bargain. The other three teenagers, with no history of violent crime, decided to stand trial, placing their fate in the hands of a jury. What is your thought on how fair or not this charge is . To me, we all should be charged for what we done that day, but nobody committed murder, why should we be charged with it . Serious things did happen. And hes gone. Im not saying i dont deserve time. Reporter the trial lasted four days. The teenagers were all found guilty of an adult crime. The decision was real hard for me. Im still torn over it. I have a hard time talking about it, really. Reporter 17yearold levi prison. 16yearold blake and 18yearold Anthony Sharp each got 55 years. I think its insane. I think its overkill. And i think its unjust. And needs to be remedied. Reporter their controversial sentences drew national atntion from nancy grace youve got a dead body. Reporter to dr. Phil. Were these boys thugs . No, not at all. Reporter their mothers mobilized, filing appeals to overturn what they believe to be unjust and cruel sentences. We want to keep the word out. We want people not to forget about these boys that are locked up and need our support. Reporter at the center of their appeals, that felony murder charge. I think the argument of just a layperson is, those boys shouldnt have been committing burglary in the first place. Right. Yeah. We dont disagree with that. Our point of contention is how much punishment they should receive and what they should be punished for. Repter the outraged moms insisting theyd take the case to the Supreme Court. And they dont deserve 50, 55 years for something they didnt do. Reporte when we first visited the prison in 2014, levi was 19. Living on the adult side. Separated from blake, whos still a juvenile. Show me your ink. Reporter he is time in prison literally etched on his skin. Tattoos he illicitly got behind bars. The hourglass is broken. To show that its wasted time. Thats your sentence, 50 years. Yes. Being behind bars aint nothing like being on the outs. This is constantly what we see every day. This. Depressing. Horrible. Reporter and sometimes dangerous. Fight . Reporter while were there an alarm. Theres an incident. Weapons team assemble. I hate hearing that. Somebodys hurt. When you hear that tone ring out it gives you chills. It could be you any day. Reporter we find blake on this is your world, basically. Yeah. Reporter blake is about to turn 18 and will soon join levi on the adult side. I want to make a cake. Im going to clean this out and just take honey buns and stuff like that, make a layered cake. Reporter both teenagers still hold out hope theyll be free soon enough to make studying for their ged pay off. Im trying as best i can. I dont want to be the same person when i get out. I want to be a different person. All this stuff that i was doing out there, drinking, smoking, not doing good in school, ignoring my family, i dont want to go back to that same stuff. Reporter for blake and levi, time stands still. While their mothers fight on the outside, fueled by the possibility of freedom. Oh, my hearts apounding. Reporter a breakthrough when we come back. What body aches . What sore elbow . What joint pain . Advil liquigels are so fast, they make pain a distant memory nothing works faster stronger or longer than advil liquigels the worlds 1 choice what pain . Advil. Guys, its just the two of you. The setting is just right. Theres something in the air. But heres the thing about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction. 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Try new rhinocort allergy spray. 19yearold blake layman and 20yearold levi sparks have spent the last three years of their you lives inside these walls. And they could be behind bars for 47 more, convicted of felony murder in the death of their friend Denzel Johnson, though neither of them pulled the trigger. What do you miss while youre behind bars . Family. Thats basically all it is, just family. Reporter on the outside, their families havent stopped fighting for their freedom. Prayers going and just keep supporting these boys and hopefully the Supreme Court will see it different. Blake layman, levi sparks, Anthony Sharp jr. Theyre convicted of the crime of fony murder. Yes. No other counts on which there was convictions . Correct. What happens . My understanding is that they would be returned back to juvenile court, some of them would, to stand for a waiver hearing on just the burglary. Reporter finally after years of appeals their fight paying off. This morning the indiana Supreme Court overturned murder convictions of three of the socalled elkhart four. Reporter the indiana Supreme Court overturns their controversial felony murder convictions. Basically ruled that there was no way these young men could have foreseen that there would be a death, and consequently that the felony murder rule shouldnt apply here. Reporter the young men now have hope for a chance at a real but they must wait to hear what their new sentences will be. How do you feel about today . Nervous. Real nervous. Excited. Reporter and on this cold january morning, the mothers of three of the elkhart four are anxiously awaiting news of their sons fate. What im hoping happens that they just time served and they can come home. Reporter but burglary carries a sentence from six to 20 years. So they may still have a lot more prison time ahead. Everyone back. Reporter hours later the moment theyve been waiting for. They emerge joyous. Layman and sharp are sentenced to ten years in prison. Levi to nine. A fraction of the 50 years theyve been facing. And with time already served and time cuts for Good Behavior and completing his ged, levi will be getting out in a few weeks. We got justice today and thats what we wanted. Thats where weve been. Im very glad its over. Drive to wabash prison is here at last. Hes going to have all kind of emotions when he gets out. I was extremely nervous. Like my palms got sweaty. I was in there shaking. As soon as he said nine years i was like, whoo i knew i was going to be home. I dont i think im going to be speechless. Im just going to hug him. Give him hugs like hes never had one before. Did you see uncle levi . Oh, i see him. Youre free, levi thank god youre home. Yeah, its all over with. I love you. Love you. Reporter a mothers hows it el . A car. Reporter these are his first few moments of freedom. Good. I cant imagine what youre feeling. God. That place was hell. Reporter a family road trip back to elkhart filled with simple pleasures. Phone calls from loved ones. What is this . Reporter a new play list. Im notaying anything. No, im not singing. Absolutely not. Look at mom. Reporter the first post on facebook. What are you doing . Posting on facebook. We have levi, on our way home. All right . Reporter but levis release is bittersweet. Hes leaving behind his best friend. Blake gave you a hug goodbye this. Uhhuh. Thats what i thought. Yeah. Reporter by the time they alive in elkhart its dusk. More family and friends are waiting to share a dinner of his own choosing. I already told everyone, once i get out im jumping into subway. Were going to get a sweet onion chicken teriyaki with bacon, an ons, pepper, jalapeno sauce. Reporter a Subway Sandwich hes been dreaming about for years. Yum bye its great. Just thankful. Thats what it comes down, to just thankful that i got a second chance. Havent really had a chance to soak it all in yet. I know its going to be good. Repter for levi his years served in prison perhaps not time lost but through gained, a life redirected. With this blessing, you know, im not going to start going out and doing stupid stuff again, you know. Im a grown man now, i need to start doing what grown men do. Thats get their life on track and live life in a positive way. Thats what i plan on doing. Reporter for nightline, imuju chang in carlisle, indiana. And we want to thank juju chang for that remarkable report, as well as call Mary Productions for hare help with that story. Last week the last of the elkhart four, jose cueros, also had his felony conviction modified to burglary. Hes expected to be released this fall. The leaked audiotape of kanye weseseportedly freaking out backstage at saturday night live before performing highlight. The bold nissan rogue, with intuitive allwheel drive. Because winter needs a hero. Now get a 189 per month lease on the 2016 nissan rogue. Innovation that excites. Many sleepaids have Pain Medicine but zzzquil is different because why would you take a Pain Medicine when all you want is good sleep . Zzzquil a nonhabit forming sleepaid thats not for pain, finally the latest development in a loud and busy week for kanye west. This fresh twist comes in the form of a leaked audiotape. They took me [ bleep ] stage off of snl the rant heard round the world. Dont [ bleep ] with me. The audio clip allegedly of kanye west backstage at the saturday night live studios released exclusively by the new york posts page 6. West appeared to perform high lights live for the first time. We only making the a source close to west todd abc news he got angry when producers removed part of his carefully designed set shortly before he was supposed to take the stage and that this outburst was from a private venting session. During his tirade he claims to be 50 more influential than several historical figures. Bro, by 50 , stanley kubrick, apostle paul, picasso, [ bleep ] and escobar. 50 more influential than any other human bing. Reporter he takes aim at taylor swift. Add taylor swift. Reporter this is not kanyes first outburst, this isnt his first outbrs about taylor swift. Cab reporter the bad blood between the two dates back to 2009 at the vmas when kanye famously interrupted swift as she was accepting her best female video of the year award im going to let you finish but beyonce had one of the best reporter last week he released famous which includes derogatory lines about swift. Ieel like me and taylor might still have sex reporter swift, who sang out of the woods and stayed out of the drama at this years grammys said this after winning album of the year. There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success, or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame. Youll look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there. The american dream. Reporter sometimim all falls down. Rut in the immortal words of somebody named kanye west that that dont kill me can only make me stronger. The always interesting kanye west. Thank you for watching tonight. Tune into gma first thing in the morning and as always were online 24 7 on our nightline thanks again for watching and good night. Announcer the following is a paid presentation for luminess air. Take a look at this blemish. Now you see it. Now you dont. It is amazing. Announcer do you see this age spot . Dont blink. Its gone like magic. Luminess is stupendous. Announcer watch this redness disappear at the touch of a button. People have said to me, you look amazing. People ask me if ive had a facelift. People asked if i got botox. Announcer these women all switched to a new foundation. People come up to me and say, your skin is beautiful. 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