A Lancaster man will not be re-sentenced for murdering a local schoolteacher in 2014.

Marcus Rutter, 21, is serving 54 years to life in prison for robbing and killing 32-year-old Nicole Mathewson during a break-in at her Lancaster city home.

Rutter, who was 16 when he killed Mathewson, is arguing on appeal that sentence is essentially a de facto life sentence.

(Mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juveniles were ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012.)

However, the Pennsylvania Superior Court rejected Rutter’s request for relief, finding the sentence ordered is not a life-without-parole term.

The state court also rejected Rutter’s claims that his “significant efforts at rehabilitation” were not considered by Lancaster County President Judge David Ashworth, who ordered sentence.

All of Rutter’s arguments are without merit, the state court ruled in an opinion released Monday.

Lancaster city police charged Rutter and Thomas Moore with the killing. Moore, now 30, also pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence, plus 20 years.

President Judge Ashworth at sentencing called the crimes “violent in the extreme," and called Rutter the “precipitating force,” having watched Mathewson’s North Franklin Street home before it was chosen as a target.

Mathewson was beaten to death inside the house. Her debit card, vehicle and other items were stolen.

Rutter took Mathewson’s cellphone and used it to access Facebook – while she was bound and gagged in her home.

In all, Rutter pleaded guilty in 2016 to: first-degree murder, conspiracy to first-degree murder, burglary, robbery, receiving stolen property, and access device fraud.

Lancaster city police Detective Jimmy Mummau filed charges.

Assistant District Attorney Ande Gonzalez represented the Commonwealth in post-conviction matters.

MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright