Section 97-3-21 - Homicide; penalty for first- or second-degree murder or capital murder(1) Except as otherwise provided for a juvenile offender in subsection (2) of this section, every person who is: (a) Convicted of first-degree murder shall be sentenced by the court to imprisonment for life in the custody of the Department of Corrections.(b) Convicted of second-degree murder shall be imprisoned for life in the custody of the Department of Corrections if the punishment is so fixed by the jury in its verdict after a separate sentencing proceeding. If the jury fails to agree on fixing the penalty at imprisonment for life, the court shall fix the penalty at not less than twenty (20) nor more than forty (40) years in the custody of the Department of Corrections.(c) Convicted of capital murder shall be sentenced ( i) to death;( ii) to imprisonment for life in the State Penitentiary without parole; or ( iii) to imprisonment for life in the State Penitentiary with eligibility for parole as provided in Section 47-7-3(1)( c)(iii).(2)(a) For the purposes of this section, "juvenile offender" means a person who had not reached the age of eighteen (18) years at the time of the commission of the offense.(b) A juvenile offender who is convicted of first-degree murder after July 1, 2024, may be sentenced to life imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections if the punishment is so fixed by the jury. If the jury fails to fix the penalty at life imprisonment, the court shall fix the penalty at not less than twenty (20) nor more than forty (40) years in the custody of the Department of Corrections.(c) A juvenile offender who is convicted of capital murder after July 1, 2024, may be sentenced to life imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections or life imprisonment without eligibility for parole in the custody of the Department of Corrections if the punishment is so fixed by the jury. If the jury fails to fix the penalty at life imprisonment or life imprisonment without parole, the court shall fix the penalty at not less than twenty-five (25) nor more than fifty (50) years in the custody of the Department of Corrections.(d) For a juvenile offender who was convicted of first-degree murder or capital murder prior to July 1, 2024, and who is entitled to a hearing under this subsection, the judge who presided over the trial, or a judge appointed by the senior circuit judge, if the presiding judge is unavailable, shall fix the penalty.Codes, Hutchinson's 1848, ch. 64, art. 12, Title 2 (1); 1857, ch. 64, art. 167; 1871, § 2630; 1880, § 2877; 1892, § 1151; 1906, § 1229; Hemingway's 1917, § 959, 1930, § 987; 1942, § 2217; Laws, 1974, ch. 576, § 7; Laws, 1977, ch. 458, § 1; Laws, 1994, ch. 566, § 3, eff. 7/1/1994.Amended by Laws, 2024, ch. 526, SB 2022,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2024.Amended by Laws, 2013, ch. 555, SB 2377, 2, eff. 7/1/2013.