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Jason Smith broke out a window in the basement apartment, then fired a shotgun to kill the victims, prosecutor Joe Christ said during closing arguments. He fired at least eight shots, apparently reloading three times.
Prosecutors said the motive for the October 2005 shootings remained unclear. Attorneys said Smith knew well before the shootings that he did not father his ex-girlfriend's 2-month-old son, even though the baby shared Smith's name.
Killed were the baby and his mother, Nicole Willyard, 19, and her friends Mary Cawvey, 19, and Brandon Lovell, 23.
The jury that convicted Smith of four murder counts will later decide whether he should be sentenced to death or to life in prison.
Defense attorney Cory Easton said the case against Smith was "careless," the crime scene investigator's work "sloppy" and scientific testing "sparse."
Prosecutor Lisa Porter called Easton's claims "sound and fury."
"This isn't a perfect world," she told jurors. "In a perfect world, friends aren't slaughtered at their friends' apartments. In a perfect world, 9-week-old babies aren't slaughtered at their mother's feet."
[Associated
Press]
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