Mason Wayne Sisk, 18, will spend the remainder of his life in prison. Limestone County Circuit Court Judge Chad Wise pronounced sentence Thursday on Sisk in the Labor Day 2019 shooting deaths of his father, John Sisk, 38; stepmother, Mary Sisk, 35; and half-siblings, Grayson Cain Sisk, 6; Aurora “Rory” Sisk, 4; and Colton Sisk, 6 months.

The family was shot in their beds while sleeping after returning home from a holiday weekend trip to the beach. On that trip, Mason Sisk stole a gun from the family’s host.

Sisk’s first capital murder trial a year ago ended in a mistrial when his stepmother’s cell phone transcripts were finally accessed. He was retried in April and found guilty by unanimous verdict April 27. On July 25, the victims’ extended family members offered heart-wrenching victims’ impact statements.

Wise delayed sentencing until Sept. 7 while he researched all possible mitigating circumstances that could have warranted a sentence of life in the penitentiary with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Wise explained more than a dozen factors that come under the headings the accused’s age, 14, at the time of the crimes: immaturity, impetuosity and failure to realize the risk or consequences of his actions.

Wise said he reviewed numerous U.S. Supreme Court rulings as well as searching for precedence in Alabama cases in which juveniles were charged with capital crimes that warranted being sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.

Wise said he could find no precedence that was relevant to Sisk’s case.

“These victims were defenseless; he had complete control,” said Wise. “It was ghastly, disturbing and draped in unmitigated evil.”

Wise said Sisk’s court-appointed attorneys Michael Sizemore and Shay Golden have 42 days in which to file an appeal. Both Sizemore and Golden said they will file an appeal.

“I’m not entirely sure that a 14-year-old boy can’t be rehabilitated,” said Sizemore. “I mean that’s the stated goal of the Department of Corrections. If they can’t do that then maybe they need to reassess those goals.”

Sizemore said it would be a “fresh set of eyes” at the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals that will look at evidence presented in court records.

“The jury wasn’t allowed to hear a lot of mitigating issues we thought were important,” said Sizemore. “The jury from the first trial got to hear different evidence.”

He said some jurors from the first trial a year ago, who chose to talk to media outlets, said they would have voted “not guilty” if give the chance.

Golden said there was evidence of drug dealing by John Sisk and his brother, Lance, who were also involved in discord over some paternity issues. He said there was also unidentified male DNA found on a glove at the crime scene.

“There are laws that protect against double jeopardy,” said Golden. “The state messed up the first trial and was still withholding evidence in the second trial. We knew going into this that everything was stacked against us.”

However, Golden said if given the chance he would try the case again.

District Attorney Brian Jones called Sisk a “monster” and said Sisk’s appeals could continue indefinitely, but for him, “It is time for us to shut the door on Mason Sisk and forget him.”

“This (appeals) could go on long after I retire,” said Jones. “But for me, this is the last time. I’ll be out in my RV in Utah by the time this ends.”

Jones said Sisk will be tested in DOC central processing to determine where he will be incarcerated.

“It used to be Kilby, but they are filled up,” said Jones. “But now it’s Draper (in Montgomery).”