Testimony to resume in Ark. soldier death trial

[July 21, 2011]  LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas jurors who heard vivid descriptions from the friend and mother of a soldier slain outside a military recruiting station are expecting to hear more testimony in the trial of the accused gunman.

Prosecutors could finish with their last witnesses to testify against Abdulhakim Muhammad on Thursday.

Muhammad confessed to killing 23-year-old Pvt. William Andrew Long and wounding Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula. He said the 2009 shootings were retaliation for U.S. military action in the Middle East.

Jurors heard Wednesday from Ezeagwula, who described seeing Long fall to the ground. Long's mother testified about hearing the gunshots that killed her son.

Muhammad's attorneys say he was suffering from a mental illness at the time of the shooting, but Muhammad and prosecutors disagree.

If convicted, Muhammad could be sentenced to death.

[Associated Press; By JEANNIE NUSS]

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