[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KAN., OKLA.

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 15




KANSAS:

Man pleads guilty in KCK slayings


Wyandotte County prosecutors are now seeking a life sentence against a man
who killed his pregnant ex-wife, her unborn child and the woman's
8-month-old daughter.

Andrew Anthony Guerrero avoided a possible death sentence by pleading
guilty Friday to 1 count each of capital murder and felony murder.
Sentencing was set for Jan. 15.

Prosecutors say the 24-year-old Guerrero is the 1st person in Wyandotte
County to be charged in an unborn child death. The charge was filed under
Alexa's Law, which makes killing or injuring an unborn child during an
attack on the mother a crime. The law, passed in 2007, is named after the
unborn daughter of 14-year-old Chelsea Brooks, who was killed in Wichita
in 2006.

Guerrero fatally shot his pregnant ex-wife, 23-year-old Nicolette
Lyons-Reed, and her daughter, Leah, in their Kansas City, Kan., home in
February.

Defense attorney John Duma said Guerrero agreed to plead guilty largely to
avoid the death penalty.

"This is an incredibly distressing and sad story," Duma said. "Both
families are absolutely devastated. There really is not a decent
explanation as to why all this occurred."

District Attorney Jerome Gorman said the family of Lyons-Reed was ready
for the case to end.

"They've had a very difficult time with all this," he said.

Guerrero was at the center of a nationwide manhunt after the killings for
taking his and Lyons-Reed's 3-year-old son across state lines. An Amber
Alert was issued, and the two were found in Texas.

The boy, who was unharmed, was brought back to Kansas and placed in the
temporary custody of his maternal grandparents. Police have said the boy
wasn't at the scene during the killings.

(source: The Kansas City Star)

OKLAHOMA:

Tulsa County jury finds man guilty in double slaying


Victor Cornell Miller was found guilty tonight on 2 counts of 1st-degree
murder.

The jury of 7 men and 5 women deliberated less than 2 hours before
reaching a verdict in the 2nd trial of Miller, 45, for the Aug. 31, 1999,
deaths of Mary Bowles, 77, and Jerald Thurman, 44.

The case now goes to a punishment phase, which begins Monday. Miller could
face the death penalty.

A death penalty set in an earlier trial was overturned by an appeals
court.

Miller is serving a federal prison sentence of life plus 100 years for
other crimes.

(source: The Oklahoman)