In Springfield, Missouri, a former high school football coach, was convicted of kidnapping, rape and murder of 10-year-old girl, sentenced to the death penalty.
The verdict yesterday, January 11, was made district judge Thomas Mountjoy. 49-year-old Craig wood has been previously convicted of first-degree murder, but the jury are unable to agree on the verdict. The part of the jurors leaning towards the death penalty, of life imprisonment without right to parole. The decision remained with the judge, writes the Associated Press.
Judge Mountjoy also dismissed the petition of the lawyers of wood, which is intended to begin a new trial, calling the death sentence unconstitutional.
The tragedy of 10 year old Hailey Owens occurred in February 2014. As told by the mother of the deceased girl edition of the Springfield News-Leader, wood the child was abducted in broad daylight, on the street, in front of stunned witnesses.
Neighbors tried to save Hailey, rushed in pursuit of the thief, recorded a number of his car, but all was in vain. According to the authorities, Craig wood brought Hayley to his house, where he raped her, then shot the child in the head. The girl’s body was discovered in the basement.
The jury has a decision in the sentencing of Craig Wood for the murder of Hailey Owens — the verdict momentarily. pic.twitter.com/OmMGm1UDnt
— KOLR10 KOZL (@kolr10kozl) November 6, 2017
Springfield residents are in social networks immediately responded to the verdict. «I’m 76 years old, I’ll die before they do,» wrote one woman.
However, some spoke out against the death penalty, preferring to Craig wood’s life sentence.
