(CNN) -- It began as horseplay, with two teenage stepbrothers chasing each other with blow guns and darts. But it soon escalated when one of the boys grabbed a knife. Michael Barton, Quantel Lotts' stepbrother, was stabbed to death at age 17. The older teen, Michael Barton, 17, was dead by the time he reached the hospital, stabbed twice.The younger boy, Quantel Lotts, 14, would eventually become one of Missouri's youngest lifers. Lotts was sentenced in Missouri's St. Francois County Circuit Court in 2002 to life in prison without parole for first-degree murder in his stepbrother's stabbing death. It made no difference that at the time of the deadly scuffle, Lotts was barely old enough to watch PG-13 movie and too young to drive, vote or buy beer.
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At least 73 inmates serve life without parole for offenses committed at 13 and 14
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Proponents of tough sentencing laws say public safety is top priority
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Only 19 states punish minors under 14 with sentences of life without parole
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"They took away all hope for the future," says Quantel Lotts, now 23
When child welfare officials took @placeholder from his mother at the age of 8, they noted that he "smelled of urine and had badly decayed molars as well as numerous scars on his arms, legs and forehead."