Thursday, July 14, 2011

Gaxiola’s fate remains in the hands of the jury

Albert Gaxiola
(pool photo by Jill
Torrance/Arizona
Daily Star)

The Pima County Superior Court jury that will decide if former Arivaca resident Albert Robert Gaxiola spends the rest of his life in prison or is executed by lethal injection began deliberating that issue on Thursday morning..

On July 1, Gaxiola, 44, was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Raul “Junior” Flores and his daughter Brisenia, as well as six other charges. Earlier this year, Jason Eugene Bush and Shawna Forde were found guilty on the same charges in separate trials. They both ended up with death sentences imposed by the juries hearing the evidence of their crimes.

The jury deliberated for about seven hours on Thursday before retiring for the evening. The jury of seven males and five females is expected to resume deliberations at 9 a.m. on Friday morning.