Jury Recommends Death For Couey

A jury on Wednesday recommended that a convicted sex offender get the death penalty for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who was buried alive in trash bags just yards from her home.

The jury, on a 10-2 vote, brushed aside pleas for mercy and a life sentence from defense lawyers based on claims that John Evander Couey, 48, is mentally retarded and suffers from chronic mental illness. Jurors, the same ones who convicted him last week, deliberated for about one hour.

The final decision on Couey’s fate will be made in several weeks by Circuit Judge Richard Howard, who is not bound by the jury’s recommendation but is required to give it “great weight.”

[Source: MSNBC]