Convicted of murder at 12, Florida man released 16 years later

Convicted of first-degree murder when he was only 12, Curtis Jones is a free man at 29.

Jones left a Florida prison on Tuesday, according to CNN affiliate WFTV, which also noted he has never had the chance to learn how to drive a car or use social media.

The newspaper Florida Today reported that Jones was released at 7 a.m. from the South Bay Correctional Facility, which is south of Lake Okeechobee.

Jones and his sister, Catherine Jones, were found guilty of killing their father's girlfriend, 29-year-old Sonya Speights, in 1999 in Cocoa Beach.

At the time, their lawyer alleged that the siblings were being sexually abused by a relative and turned to extreme measures after they felt that their father and his girlfriend were not protecting them. But prosecutors argued that they were jealous of the victim because they were not getting their father's attention.

Jones' sister, who is now 30, is also scheduled to be freed this week. Catherine went to prison at 13.

The brother and sister, who lived in Brevard County at the time of killing, took a plea deal and were sentenced to 18 years in prison.

While incarcerated, Jones became an ordained minister. Catherine became a married woman to a pen pal.