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WHEN 12-YEAR-old Curtis Jones was sentenced to 18 years in prison for second-degree murder in 1999, he reportedly asked if he could bring his Nintendo with him.

Now Curtis, 29, and his 30-year-old sister, Catherine, are set to be released from prison in the next few weeks after 16 years behind bars, according to Florida Today.

On January 6, 1999, 12-year-old Curtis Jones and 13-year-old Catherine Jones used their father’s gun to kill his girlfriend, Sonya Speights, 29, at the family’s home in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

Sexual abuse 

The original reports stated that the siblings killed Speights out of jealousy after their father told them he planned on marrying her.

However, documents and child-welfare reports suggested Curtis and Catherine had been the targets of sexual abuse by another male relative living with them, according to Florida Today. The kids had planned to kill him, their father, and Speights after their repeated cries for help went unanswered, Florida Today reports.

The siblings were eventually arrested and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, each receiving an 18-year sentence and probation for life. In a 2009 interview, Catherine Jones told USA Today that she regretted taking a life, but that she was willing to do anything to get away from her abuse.

“At one point I was just so happy to be away,” Catherine told them.

I know that sounds, like, really messed up, but there was a point where I was just away from all that and I was by myself and I was safe.

Being on probation for the rest of their lives means that the smallest infraction can land them back in prison.

Curtis will leave prison an ordained minister sporting several prison tattoos, according to Florida Today. Catherine became pen pals with a Navy sailor who was inspired by her story. She eventually married him while she was behind bars.

Catherine holds no illusions about how hard it will be to reenter society after 16 years.

In a letter she wrote in a letter to Florida Today last year, she noted that “there’s so much I must learn to function like a normal person” from learning to drive to dressing for a job interview.

I’ll leave prison just as clueless as I was at 13.

Watch the full story below:

Read: Man due in court over murder of man who was left in vegetative state>

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