Shakur Abdullah, formerly known as Rodney Stewart, was resentenced Monday, 41 years after the shooting. He will be released in January.
According to prosecutors, Abdullah shot Thomas Ehlers and Daniel Evans before setting the van they were in on fire. Ehlers was killed and Evans was left blind in one eye.
The district judge’s decision is part of the required resentencing of juveniles who had previously received automatic life sentences. Nebraska lawmakers changed the sentencing range for juveniles convicted of murder to 40 years to life in prison. Abdullah was 16 at the time of the shootings.
The Nebraska Supreme Court overturned Abdullah’s original death sentence in 1977.