ST. LOUIS — A former St. Louis Public School Principal will spend the rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty for his role in a murder for hire plot.
The deadly crime was financed with money stolen from students at Carr Lane Middle School.
As the family of Jocelyn Peters walked into Federal Court Tuesday morning, they were all adorned with a yellow flower.
“Yellow was Jocelyn’s favorite color,” Lacey Peters said.
Known for her vibrant personality, Jocelyn Peters taught 2nd and 3rd grade at Mann Elementary.
“She would always run in my office every morning and scare me,” Dr. Nicole Conaway said. “She would burst in and tell me about the magic that was going to happen, and how I had to come in and see what the magic was.”
According to prosecutors, former Carr Lane principal Cornelius Green hired a hitman to kill Peters and their unborn child inside her Central West End Apartment in 2016.
“This crime was senseless,” Lacey Peters said.
“I’ve been here over 24 years and this is the single most heartbreaking case I’ve ever had,” Tiffany Becker, Criminal Chief Prosecutor for the Eastern District of Missouri said.
As Peters' family read victim impact statements to the court, even the judge presiding in the case teared up, but Green sat expressionless in his seat.
“It just shows his character,” Lacey Peters said. “He tried to hold his head down, but he didn’t really have any remorse.”
Green will now spend the rest of his life in federal prison as part of a plea agreement that will drop state charges, which carried the possibility of the death penalty.
“I’m not able to go visit Jocelyn,” Lacey Peters said. “I’m not able to hug my granddaughter. Life is not enough.”
“There will never be anything that will bring her back and I think that’s the hard part,” Dr. Conaway said. “I hope he never sees the light of day for what he’s done.”
Green's attorneys requested that he be transferred to prison in Greenville, Illinois.
Judge White denied that request, stating that he preferred the Department of Prisons to decide where Green will be incarcerated.