     At age six, Hill did not know his age, but thought he was nine. His reading and verbal
skills were at the five-year-old level and he had a mental age of four years and six months.
At age 8 and 8 months, Hill was considered functioning at a “high kindergarten level.” At age
13, he was functioning at the “mid-2nd grade level” in reading and the “mid-1st grade level” in
arithmetic. Also when Hill was 13-years-old, a school psychologist set out “special instructional
recommendations” that included teaching Hill his address and phone number, as well as how to
tell time. He exhibited weaknesses in reasoning ability, originality, verbal interaction, and a lack
of intellectual independence. By 14, he was reading at a first-grade level and his math skills
were at acourt records, and from periods both before and after he
committed serious crimes while apparently acting alone.           In school, Hill was described as
immature and “easily led by others into trouble around school,” like fighting. He was vulnerable
to exploitation by older individuals, displayed inappropriate and immature behaviors in class,
rarely considered the consequences before acting, and had trouble conforming his behavior to the
rules or the law. When Hill was 13, he was described as exhibiting a “great deal of impulsivity.”
When Hill was 17, he was evaluated by a psychologist who concluded that he had poor
judgment, “d[id] not think of consequences,” was “highly suggestable,” and “was ‘likely to be
exploited’” if placed in halfway home for adults “because of his ‘passivity and limited
