Jury deciding sentence for Ohio man who rammed rally protesters

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Several people who were severely injured when a man drove his car into counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally last year described devastating physical and psychological effects to a jury tasked with making a sentencing recommendation today.

Jurors on Friday convicted James Alex Fields Jr. of first-degree murder and other charges for ramming his car into a crowd in Charlottesville during a "Unite the Right" rally on Aug. 12, 2017. Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal, was killed and dozens were injured. Under the law, the jury can recommend from 20 years to life in prison.

Heyer's mother, Susan Bro, told jurors that her daughter's death has been "an explosion in our family" and "we are forever scarred by the pain."

"Some days I can't do anything but cry and sit and stare as the grief overtakes me," she said.

Jeanne "Star" Peterson said her life has been "a living nightmare" since she was hit by Fields' car. Her right leg was shattered, and she's had five surgeries to try to repair it. She also suffered a broken spine and still hasn't been able to return to work.

Fields, 21, drove to Virginia from his home in Maumee, Ohio, to support the white nationalists. After the rally, as a large group of counterprotesters marched through Charlottesville singing and laughing, he stopped his car, backed up, then sped into the crowd, according to testimony from witnesses and video surveillance shown to jurors.

Wednesday Bowie, a counterprotester who got caught on the trunk of Fields' car when he backed up and was then slammed into a parked truck and thrown to the ground, told the jury "the world is not a safe place" with Fields in it.

In convicting Fields on Friday, the jury rejected his lawyers' arguments that he acted in self-defense. Jurors also convicted Fields of nine other charges, including aggravated malicious wounding and hit and run. He faces 20 years to life on each of five counts of aggravated malicious wounding, five years to 20 years on three counts of malicious wounding, and up to 10 years on one count of leaving the scene of an accident.