Jury to deliberate Barnette's fate within the hour

The jury that convicted Lorenza Barnette is expected to begin deliberations within the hour to recommend whether he should serve life in prison or die by lethal injection.

Barnette, 29, was convicted Oct. 19 of aggravated murder with death-penalty specifications, kidnapping and arson, in the suffocation deaths of two men more than two years ago.

He was returned at 9 a.m. Tuesday to the courtroom of Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court where neither the prosecution nor the defense put on any witnesses during the penalty phase. Sweeney is now giving instruction to the jury.

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