MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has ordered a new sentencing hearing in a double homicide in Macon County because the defendant was 17 when the crime occurred.

The court ruled 5-0 Friday that Jertavis Foye must get a new sentencing hearing because he was 17 when Erika Black and Clint Donner were fatally shot on Aug. 9, 2008. Foye received an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole because that's what state law required for juveniles convicted of capital murder. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in another Alabama case in 2012 that the Constitution prohibits mandatory sentences of life without parole for juvenile offenders.

The appeals court told a Macon County judge to reconsider Foye's sentence based on factors including maturity and mental health.