A California judge has sentenced a 16 year old to life in prison without the possibility of parole in a case in which no one died.

Antonio Nunez was 14 when he was arrested on April 25, 2001, and charged with kidnapping a Santa Ana businessman and shooting at police with an AK-47 semiautomatic weapon during a subsequent chase. No one was injured.

In addition to life without parole, Nunez received four additional life terms and 121 years for being found guilty of six counts of attempted murder of a police officer, assault, evading, street terrorism and committing crimes for the benefit of a street gang.

Defense attorney Joel Garson asked the judge to weigh "the mental maturity" of the youth, whose reading and math skills were purportedly at a second-grade level. Garson also claimed Nunez had a "very minor" past criminal history and a traumatic family life, including witnessing his brother's murder and parents who did not properly supervise him.

This troubles us. We should not give up on these kids. They are poor, disadvantaged and left behind in our society. We need to find a way to give every one of them an equal chance to succeed. We need to break the cycle. Life without parole is not the answer.