FILE - T. J. Lane listens during court proceedings in Geauga County Common Pleas Court in this Feb. 26, 2013 file photo taken in Chardon, Ohio. A judge in the tight-knit courthouse community of Chardon,... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - T. J. Lane listens during court proceedings in Geauga County Common Pleas Court in this Feb. 26, 2013 file photo taken in Chardon, Ohio. A judge in the tight-knit courthouse community of Chardon,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Wearing a white T-shirt with "killer" scrawled across it in large, apparently handwritten letters, a teenager was given three lifetime prison sentences without the possibility of parole Tuesday for opening fire last year in a high school cafeteria in a rampage that left three students dead and three others wounded. 
 
 T.J. Lane, 18, had pleaded guilty last month to shooting at students in February 2012 at Ohio's Chardon High School, east of Cleveland. Investigators have said he admitted to the shooting but said he didn't know why he did it. 
 
 Before the case went to adult court last year, a juvenile court judge ruled that Lane was mentally competent to stand trial despite evidence he suffers from hallucinations, psychosis and fantasies. 
 
 Prosecutors say he took a .22-caliber pistol and a knife to the school and fired 10 shots at a group of students in the cafeteria. Daniel Parmertor and Demetrius Hewlin, both 16, and Russell King Jr., 17, were killed. 
 
 Lane was at Chardon waiting for a bus to the alternative school he attended, for students who haven't done well in traditional settings. 
 
 Lane had pleaded guilty last month to three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of felonious assault. 
 
 He faced a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. He wasn't eligible for the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the shootings. Relatives of the slain students indicated earlier they wanted Lane to get the maximum sentence. ||||| Story highlights Prosecutor says victims' families kept composure 
 
 "You are evil," mother of wounded victim tells Lane 
 
 During hearing, Lane obscenely gestures at victims' families 
 
 He wore a "killer" T-shirt at sentencing 
 
 Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, upon learning Ohio school shooter T.J. Lane was going to make a statement in court Tuesday, told relatives of his victims to be prepared for something inflammatory. 
 
 Lane's own lawyer told the court he urged his client not to make the type of statement that the attorney expected to be delivered. 
 
 But no one could have fully foreseen the actions and words of Lane, who entered the courtroom and removed his blue button-down shirt while the judge and those in attendance took their seats. 
 
 Lane, now 18, revealed a white T-shirt with the word "killer" written on it. 
 
 The attire was similar to what he was wearing when arrested by police shortly after the February 27, 2012, killings at Chardon High School in northeastern Ohio. 
 
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 Given the opportunity to speak a few minutes later, Lane made an obscene gesture at the victims' families and spoke to them briefly, using explicit language. 
 
 "What he did was beyond anything I could envision seeing in a courtroom," Flaiz told CNN a few hours after a judge ordered Lane to spend the rest of his life in prison without parole. "I was shocked and disgusted at how the defendant conducted himself." 
 
 Lane smiled and smirked during much of the hearing, laughing when Flaiz described him as an "evil person." 
 
 According to the Geauga County prosecutor, Common Pleas Judge David L. Fuhry was unaware that Lane had the lettered T-shirt. "I think everyone felt the effect of that shirt at the same time," said defense attorney Ian Friedman, according to CNN Cleveland affiliate WJW. Friedman said he, too, had no advance knowledge of the T-shirt. 
 
 Lane pleaded guilty last month to three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and weapons-related charges. 
 
 The death penalty was off the table because of Lane's age at the time of the crimes, according to prosecutors. 
 
 For their part, victims' relatives kept calm and made their own statements, describing the pain they felt and the profound loss to both themselves and the community. They also cited the contributions of their killed or wounded loved ones. 
 
 "I was very proud of the family members in the courtroom," said Flaiz, adding he was not sure he could have kept his composure if he were in their shoes. 
 
 The mother of a wounded student now confined to a wheelchair looked directly at Lane as she told him he was fortunate so many officers were in the small courtroom. 
 
 Friends, family remember Ohio school shooting victims 
 
 "Because of you, our town will never be same," Holly Walczak said. "Why? Why did you do it? Why?" 
 
 Walczak said she has watched her son, Nick, suffer daily in the year since he was shot in the school cafeteria and in the hallway when he was pursued by Lane. 
 
 "You are evil. I will have to eventually forgive, otherwise you will haunt me," she told Lane. 
 
 Demetrius Hewlin, 16, died from his wounds. 
 
 His brother, Philip Carter, read a statement in court on behalf of mother Phyllis Ferguson. 
 
 "In our humanity, we still cannot understand why his life was taken in such a violent manner," said Carter. 
 
 Authorities allege that Lane walked up to a table in the Chardon High School cafeteria and started firing. 
 
 When the violence ended, six students had been shot, and in the following days, three died: Daniel Parmertor, 16; Hewlin; and Russell King Jr., 17. 
 
 T.J. Lane was known by many around Chardon High, 30 miles east of Cleveland. But at the time of the shooting, he was there to be transported to Lake Academy Alternative School in nearby Willoughby. 
 
 Lake Academy describes itself as a school for "at-risk" students who are "reluctant learners" struggling with problems such as substance abuse and mental health issues. 
 
 After the shooting, an assistant football coach chased Lane out of Chardon High, and police arrested him nearby a short time later. 
 
 Parmertor's mother, Dina, last year told CNN's Anderson Cooper her son was a jokester "everyone wanted to be around." Daniel had just started a job at a local bowling alley. 
 
 "My heart is broken. It is torn apart. .. I want people to know him," said Dina Parmertor. "They did not know the joy of knowing him." 
 
 Tuesday, she looked at Lane and called him a "weak, pathetic vile coward." 
 
 "If I had my choice you would die an extremely slow, torturous death," the mother said. 
 
 Before he sentenced Lane to consecutive sentences of life without parole and additional sentences totaling 37 years, Fuhry said the former student showed no remorse, feigned mental illness and seemed determined to make "front-page news." 
 
 "A school is a place where a student should feel safe," the judge said, adding Lane took advantage of unsuspecting students. "These juveniles were ambushed." 
 
 Fuhry said Lane would be a danger if he were ever released. 
 
 King's sister, Crystal, called Lane a "monster." Her brother was a compassionate blood donor who tried to become a friend of Lane because "he felt sorry for him." 
 
 After the sentencing, defense attorney Friedman said Lane's comment to the families was a "very difficult statement to hear." 
 
 Lane's sister, Sadie Lane, pleaded for compassion and prayers for her family a well as for those of the victims. She, too, was in the school cafeteria when the rampage began. 
 
 "Many families were damaged that day. Our family was, too," she said. 
 
 While the judge indicated Tuesday there was no known motive for the attacks, Flaiz said his office has a theory it would have presented if the case had gone to trial. He declined to elaborate, saying he will meet with victims' family members in the next week. 
 
 "I got a sense from the families they wanted to hear why he did it and they wanted to hear remorse," Flaiz said. 
 
 Residents have come together since the shootings, the prosecutor said. "Sometimes it takes a tragedy for everyone to realize how close-knit a community we have." 
 
 "In the end, everyone is sad. It is an incredibly sad situation." ||||| CHARDON, Ohio -- T.J. Lane will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing three students and wounding three others in the Chardon High School cafeteria Feb. 27, 2012. 
 
 Before his sentence, Lane, wearing a white T-shirt with the word "killer" written across the front, said: "This hand that pulled the trigger that killed your sons now masturbates to the memory. F--- all of you." 
 
 Gasps were heard around the courtroom at that point and some in the gallery began to cry. 
 
 Geauga County Common Pleas Judge David Fuhry sentenced Lane for the slayings of Daniel Parmertor, 16; Demetrius Hewlin, 16; and Russell King Jr., 17, in a rampage that has tortured a small town and its students for the past year. 
 
 Lane sat silently as the sentence was read. 
 
 Defense attorney Ian Friedman says Lane plans to appeal, and has asked the court to appoint him a lawyer for that process. 
 
 "The defense is deeply sorry for the families, all of the families’ pain, all of the families that have been affected by this," Friedman said. "There’s nothing we can say that’s going to lessen that. 
 
 "However, my hope is that this community and the families that have been affected can at least begin to seek closure." 
 
 
 
 Fuhry acknowledged before before sentencing that Lane had a "tumultuous" upbringing. But he said Lane knew what he was doing when he committed the shootings, and his lack of motive or remorse makes him dangerous. 
 
 "What was the motive for this merciless rampage? The answer is we don't know," Fuhry said. "We have not been provided a clear answer, or even a murky one. 
 
 "It appears to the court that the defendant simply wished to make a name for himself, to make a big splash, to make front-page news." 
 
 Emotional parents and family members were allowed to address Lane before sentencing. 
 
 
 
 "You're really lucky there's so many police in this room," said Holly Walczak, mother of shooting victim Nick Walczak, who was left paralyzed, during her statement. Lane smiled back at her. 
 
 "Because of you, our quiet little town will never be the same. Why? Why did you do it? Why?" 
 
 Dina Parmertor, victim Danny Parmertor's mother, said: "You're a pathetic excuse for a human being. In fact you're not even human. You're a monster" 
 
 "I want you to be ensured years and years of pain, which in my opinion is not enough. You don't deserve to take another breath while my 16-year-old son lies in the ground because of your cold, disgusting actions." 
 
 "You're a weak, pathetic, vile coward." 
 
 Prosecutor James Flaiz also responded, saying: "What we're dealing with is a disgusting human being. ... He still refuses to offer any explanation for why he did this. The only explanation I can offer the court is he is an evil person." 
 
 Lane, 18, pleaded guilty Feb. 26 to three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of felonious assault. The plea came a day before the one-year mark of the shootings.Because he was a juvenile at the time of the shooting, he could not face the death penalty. 
 
 It was up to Fuhry to determine when or if Lane would be eligible for parole. The earliest Fuhry could have set a parole hearing was in 26 years. 
 
 Besides killing Demetrius, Russell and Daniel, Lane also shot Nick Walczak, Joy Rickers and Nate Mueller. Nick is in a wheelchair because of injuries he received in the attack. Joy was treated and released from the hospital shortly after the shooting. A bullet grazed Nate's ear. 
 
 Nick declined to comment after the hearing. 
 
 
 
 Lane attended Lake Academy in Willoughby, an alternative school. Authorities said he fired the shots from his uncle's .22-caliber Ruger handgun as he waited for the bus that took him from Chardon High School each morning. 
 
 After he bolted from the school, Geauga County Sheriff's Deputy Jon Bilicic found Lane seated along Woodin Road, about a mile from the school. There, he sat muddied and wet, with a shirt that read "Killer" on the front. 
 
 Bilicic told Lane his rights, and the youth quickly admitted that he, alone, was the gunman. Asked why, Lane said he didn't know. 
 
 Bilicic said Lane told him he just "killed a bunch of people." When Bilicic asked him why, he said, "I don't know." At another point when asked why, he said, "I don't really understand myself." 
 
 The deputy said Lane told him he was aiming for heads so students wouldn't suffer. 
 
 Bilicic asked Lane if he was suicidal, used drugs or alcohol, or suffered from depression; Lane replied, "No." 
 
 From the beginning of his defense, his case appeared to hinge on his mental state. He initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Last year, Dr. Phillip Resnick, a professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University, testified at a hearing that Lane suffers from serious mental problems, including auditory hallucinations, depression and involuntary fantasies that fill his mind. 
 
 Despite that, Geauga County Juvenile Court Judge Timothy Grendell found him competent to stand trial in his court. Grendell, however, later transferred the case to Fuhry's courtroom, where the youth faced adult charges. 
 
 A second evaluation of Lane determined that he was competent, and authorities said the issues that Lane showed in the first report were nonexistent in the second report. 
 
 
 
 With Cliff Pinckard 
 

– An incredibly disturbing end to an incredibly disturbing crime: Ohio school shooter TJ Lane showed up to his sentencing hearing today wearing a white T-shirt bearing what the AP describes as the apparently handwritten word "killer." Lane had in February pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated murder among other crimes, and was handed three lifetime sentences without the possibility of parole. But gasps rang out following the sentence, as Lane gave the room the middle finger and announced "F--- all of you," reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He also made a comment that we find too offensive to run; the Plain Dealer has it. Lane reportedly also wore a shirt that read "Killer" when he opened fire last year in Chardon High School's cafeteria, in a rampage that left three students dead and three others wounded. Investigators have said he admitted to the shooting but said he didn't know why he did it, and the prosecutor emphasized that today: "What we're dealing with is a disgusting human being. ... He still refuses to offer any explanation for why he did this. The only explanation I can offer the court is he is an evil person." CNN notes that Lane opted not to have his attorneys present any evidence at the hearing.