UPDATE | Brooks sentenced to life without parole

YOUNGSTOWN — Robert Brooks was sentenced to life without parole by Visiting Judge Lee Sinclair.

Brooks was convicted of murdering real estate agent Vivian Martin, who was strangled on Sept. 20, 2010, while showing a Nelson Avenue home.

Earlier, Martin's daughter said she wants Brooks, who pleaded guilty in the slaying, to spend the rest of his life in prison.

“He’s a menace to society, and I’d like him to do life without parole,” said Davida Brown, Martin’s daughter, this morning, during Brooks’ sentencing hearing.

Most of the morning was devoted to defense witnesses, who testified that Brooks, 29, suffered from a nomadic, violent childhood and also post traumatic stress disorder after being seriously wounded in Iraq during his Army combat service.

“Robert Brooks’ PTSD is severe and extreme. It’s one of the worst cases I’ve ever seen,” said Dr. Thomas Swales, a neuropsychologist.

PTSD can contribute to homicidal behavior, Dr. Swales said.

Brooks’ lawyers were seeking a sentence of less than life in prison without parole.

Brooks pleaded guilty Sept. 20 to several charges in relation to Martin’s death and an unrelated robbery of a real estate agent in Boardman five days before Martin was killed, in exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty.

The co-defendant in the case, Grant Cooper, 25, will be sentenced Thursday. Cooper is expected to receive a sentence of 29 years in prison.