Devaughn pleads not guilty to Labor Day murder charges
Michael Wayne Devaughn, a suspect indicted earlier this week in Starkville’s infamous 1990 Labor Day murders, pleaded not guilty to his charges during a Wednesday afternoon arraignment in Oktibbeha County Circuit Court.
Death penalty sought in case of 8 Mississippi killings
A Mississippi man accused of eight killings pleaded not guilty Monday to all charges, including four counts of capital murder for which prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty.
Death penalty upheld in Mississippi furniture store slayings
The Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday again affirmed the death sentence for a man convicted of killing four people at a furniture store where he previously worked, with a majority of justices saying they found no racial prejudice in the way jurors were chosen.
Most of Mississippi’s juvenile lifers await resentencing
In light of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Mississippi has been starting to set new sentences for people imprisoned to life without parole for crimes committed when they were juveniles.
Trooper ambush killer sentenced to death in Pennsylvania
The bell atop the Pike County Courthouse last tolled the fate of a condemned killer in the 1980s.
Church shooting defendant eases into role as own attorney
The white man prosecutors accuse of gunning down nine black parishioners in a bid to start a race war showed no signs of a racial agenda Tuesday, taking a calm, businesslike approach to selecting a jury that would ultimately decide whether he’s put to death.
Our View: Nuns’ murders should begin dialogue on death penalty
If ever there was a textbook case for the death penalty, this should have been it.
Prosecutor to mull death penalty opposition in nuns’ slaying
A Mississippi prosecutor said she hasn’t decided whether to seek the death penalty for a man charged with killing two nuns who dedicated their lives to helping people in one of the poorest counties in the nation.
Lawyer in church shooting case calls prosecutor reckless
An attorney defending the man accused of fatally shooting nine black parishioners in Charleston, South Carolina, says a state prosecutor is making reckless misstatements by implying a federal death sentence might not be carried out.
Prosecutor asks that state be allowed to try Dylann Roof first
South Carolina has primary jurisdiction over the case of a man accused of fatally shooting nine black parishioners in Charleston last year and thus should be allowed to prosecute him before the federal government does, a state attorney argued Tuesday.
Judge rules jury will mull case of church shooting suspect
A jury, not a judge, will consider hate crimes and other federal charges against the man accused of gunning down nine parishioners at a South Carolina church, the judge overseeing the case ruled Monday.
Defendant in church shootings faces Nov. federal trial
The federal death penalty trial of a white man charged with shooting and killing nine black parishioners during a Bible study at their Charleston church will be held in November, a judge announced Tuesday.
Jury returns death sentence for ‘Grim Sleeper’ serial killer
A serial killer known as the “Grim Sleeper” should be sentenced to death for murdering nine women and a teenage girl over more than two decades in South Los Angeles, a jury decided Monday.
Church slaying families accept pursuit of death penalty
The husband of a woman gunned down at a historic black church in Charleston with eight other people said Wednesday he won’t be at peace until the man charged in the slayings is put to death.
Suspect in Charleston church shooting faces death penalty
Nearly a year after the brutal shooting deaths of nine black parishioners at a Charleston, South Carolina, church, the U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday its intent to seek the death penalty against the man facing federal hate crime charges in the killings.
Prosecutor: Church shooting suspect to face death penalty
The white man accused of killing nine black churchgoers in what authorities said was a racially motivated crime during Bible study will face a death penalty trial, even though not all the victims’ families agree with capital punishment, a prosecutor said Thursday.
Theater victim’s granddad questions motive of holdout juror
The grandfather of the youngest victim in the Colorado theater shootings suggested Monday that one juror might have improperly blocked the death penalty for James Holmes by being untruthful about her beliefs, drawing a forceful rebuke from the judge.
At end of epic Colorado theater shooting trial, a surprise
James Holmes will spend the rest of his life in prison after at least one juror balked at the possibility of sentencing him to death for the massacre that claimed 12 lives and spawned a gut-wrenching four-month trial.
Victims conflicted over death penalty for theater gunman
Marcus Weaver spent nearly three years talking openly about forgiving the man who shot him, killed his friend and caused untold suffering.
Charges effectively dropped against Manning for ’93 double homicide
Prosecutors will not move forward with a new murder trial against Willie Jerome Manning, who previously stood accused of killing two women 22 years ago, court documents show.