A state-prison inmate serving two life terms for killing two men in Lancaster 24 years ago will get no relief, a Pennsylvania appeals court ruled this week.
Marlon Hurdle was 20 when he ambush two men in a vehicle, fatally shooting them at Green and Palm streets in Lancaster city in December 1993.
In a request for relief, Hurdle asked to be treated like a juvenile in accordance with a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision that found mandatory life sentences for juveniles “unconstitutional.”
The Pennsylvania Superior Court denied that request, meaning Hurdle, now 44 and an inmate in Schuylkill County, will not be re-sentenced.
A local jury convicted him in 1995 of two counts of first-degree murder for shooting Clarence Dixon and Jeffery Mitchell. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a sentence, so a judge ordered consecutive life terms.
Hurdle, a drug dealer, and a co-defendant ambushed Dixon and Mitchell as they drove into the area to purchase drugs, according to testimony.
Dixon and Mitchell were shot at close range while inside their vehicle. A third person in the vehicle, who was not seen, escaped uninjured.
Hurdle fled to New York and was taken into custody there during a traffic stop.
Lancaster city police filed charges.
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright