FAYETTE COUNTY The re-sentencing of a Loogootee man convicted of shooting his neighbors to death when he was 15-years-old has again been delayed.

Clifford Baker (Source: IDOC)
Clifford Baker
(Source: IDOC)

Clifford Baker was scheduled for a hearing on his re-sentencing Thursday in Fayette County Court, after the U.S. Supreme Court made a retroactive ruling that life without the possibility of parole for someone under the age of 18 was unconstitutional.

The SCOTUS ruling meant that Baker would have to be re-sentenced. He was found guilty in 2011 of first-degree murders of his neighbors, Mike Mahon and Debra Tish, while they slept in their Loogootee home. He was sentenced to natural life in prison without possibility of parole.

The re-sentencing has been delayed before, but the latest continuance is due to the retirement of Fayette County Public Defender Edwin Potter. His replacement, Bill Starnes, was only on the case for nine days at the time of Thursday’s hearing. The continuance will allow Starnes to become familiar with the case.

The Baker case is next due in court November 30 for a status hearing on a expert witness for the defense.