Appeals court upholds life sentence for 15-year-old boy accused of killing great-grandmother

MADISON — A Wisconsin appeals court has upheld the life sentence of a teenage boy convicted of killing his great-grandmother in 2012.

Barbara Olson

The 2nd District Court of Appeals rejected an appeal Wednesday, June 22nd by 15-year-old Antonio Barbeau. He was 13 at the time of the attack and won't be eligible for release until he's 50.

Barbeau argued that his sentence was cruel and unusual, but the Appeals Court upheld his sentence, affirming a decision by the Sheboygan County Circuit Court.

Barbeau pleaded no contest to first-degree intentional homicide in the September 2012 death of 78-year-old Barbara Olson. Olson was struck with a hatchet and a hammer in her Sheboygan Falls home. Another 13-year-old boy, Nathan Paape, was convicted as an accomplice and also sentenced to life in prison.

Nathan Paape, Antonio Barbeau