The Nation : Sailor Gets Life in Killing

A black sailor was sentenced to life in prison for fatally stabbing a white lieutenant in the back aboard a Navy frigate at sea. Petty Officer 3rd Class Mitchell T. Garraway Jr. was spared the death penalty by an eight-member military jury that deliberated four hours. The same panel convicted Garraway, 22, of Suitland, Md., on Jan. 30 of premeditated murder in the slaying of Lt. James K. Sterner with a foot-long Marine survival knife. The Navy has not used capital punishment since two 1849 hangings.