TJ Tremble was fourteen years old when he murdered a couple in their home. According to court documents TJ Tremble would ride his bike over to the couple’s home where he would break in and fatally shoot both of the residents. TJ would then steal the couples car before leaving. Tremble would be arrested a short time later. At trial this teen killer would be sentenced to two life terms with no chance of parole however this sentence would be later overturned but at his retrial he was re-sentenced to life in prison
TJ Tremble 2023 Information
MDOC Number:260818
SID Number:1919868P
Name:TJ JAMES TREMBLE
Racial Identification:White
Gender:Male
Hair:Brown
Eyes:Brown
Height:5′ 10″
Weight:162 lbs.
Date of Birth:05/18/1982
TJ Tremble Other News
Former AuGres resident TJ Tremble, convicted of a double-murder when he was 14, saw his life-without-parole sentence overturned in a U.S. District Court decision in 2010. Now two different court cases could see his sentence reduced, or a new trial.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette argued March 8 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth District, located in Cincinnati, to have the 2010 decision reversed, and is awaiting a decision.
TJ Tremble, now 28, was convicted of shooting and killing Peter and Ruth Stanley of AuGres while they slept in 1997, before stealing their car and some cash. According to Arenac County Sheriff James Mosciski, Tremble confessed to the crime, and evidence pointed to him committing the acts.
“My opinion on it is, if you commit the crime, you pay the time,” Mosciscki said. “He killed two innocent people, stole a car, the evidence showed he stole the car, he stole some money from the house, and confessed to the crime.”
Tremble’s lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, argued at the U.S. District Court in Detroit that Tremble’s request for counsel was not honored, so his confession, obtained after six hours of being handcuffed, could not be valid. This was the argument that U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman accepted in 2010, overturning Tremble’s conviction and ordering a new trial.
The Stanleys’ son, Dennis, said he wants to see the sentence reinstated by the appeals court.
“He had plenty of time to change his mind that night,” Dennis said. “He rode his bike for three miles, carrying a .22-caliber rifle in the dark… he knew what he wanted to do.”
Dennis added that TJ Tremble had been in trouble with the law before, and was on probation when the incident occurred. He believes Tremble lied to his lawyer to get representation by giving a biased account of the police and trial proceedings.
A broader decision is being discussed in Washington, D.C., however, as the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on March 20 on two different cases that could affect Tremble’s life sentence.
The two cases before the Supreme Court, Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs, saw Tremble’s lawyer Stevenson argue that it is unconstitutional to try juveniles as adults, let alone sentence them as adults.
Stevenson argued before the Supreme Court justices over where to draw a line for trying a minor as an adult, and whether or not a minor should be sentenced to life without parole, as Tremble was.
Mosciski said he did not believe former Arenac County Prosecutor Jack Scully would have tried Tremble as an adult if he did not believe it was constitutional.
Dennis Stanley said he has no sympathy for young people who commit crimes.
The Supreme Court should have a decision by the end of June on whether or not it is constitutional to try and sentence minors as adults, which, if overturned, could force a new trial for Tremble. Schuette’s office did not have a time frame for the Court of Appeal’s decision.
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TJ Tremble Update
He wanted to be paroled soon, but an Arenac County man will spend another 15 years in prison after being re-sentenced this afternoon.
T.J. Tremble was 14-years-old when he shot and killed an elderly Au Gres couple while they were sleeping.
Today, he would learn if might be paroled soon, or spend more time behind bars.
Judge David Riffel could have re-sentenced Tremble to at least 25 years in prison, meaning parole could come soon, or at least 40 years. His decision will keep Tremble behind bars for at least another 15 years.
“The family is holding together, we are strong family, we always have been and that’s because of our parents, and we will continue to stick together,” says Dennis Stanley.
If there ever has been a family that’s needed to stay strong, it’s the Stanley family of Au Gres.
It was in April of 1997 when the four children’s parents, Peter and Ruth Stanley were shot to death in their home. Tremble admitted to the killings and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
He was just 14 years old. In 2010, the murder convictions were overturned, but then reinstated.
The U.S. Supreme Court then ruled sentencing people under the age of 17 unconstitutional, so the state had to re-sentence Tremble, who is now 39.
Defense attorneys were hoping he would get 25 to 40 years while Arenac County Prosecutor Curt Broughton argued it should be 40 to 60.
After listening to testimony on both sides, Judge David Riffel went for the harsher sentence, meaning TJ Tremble will have to spend at least another 15 years behind bars.
“What this means to us is we are relieved, we knew in the beginning he was supposed to be in for the rest of his life,” he says.
His family has been through so much over the past two and a half decades after his parents were killed, and as the laws have changed, their quest for justice has not.
“We wish is would be life without parole, but we have to respect the law, and we will live with it,” Stanley says.
We could not reach TJ Tremble’s attorneys for comment.
