A man convicted in the 2009 thrill killing of his South Bay classmate is now free.

Then-teenagers Jae Williams and Randy Thompson lured Michael Russell to a home and stabbed him to death. Williams was 15 at the time, and Thompson was 16. Both were tried as adults and convicted.

The murder was dubbed a thrill killing because Williams and Thompson said they took Russell's life because they wanted to see what it felt like to kill someone.

But in 2018, state lawmakers passed a law prohibiting anyone under 16 from being tried as adults.

Williams went back to juvenile court to revisit his case. On Monday, a judge set him free nine years into his 26-year sentence.

"The state legislature essentially tied the hands of prosecutors and said you can no longer charge a 14 or a 15 year old as an ad

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