Jury Decides No Death Penalty for Serial Killer

By Anthonia Akitunde in News on Dec 19, 2009 5:15PM

Serial killer Andre Crawford will serve a life sentence with no chance of parole for the rapes and murders of 11 South Side women, Chicago Breaking News reports.

A 10-2 split among jury members spared Crawford from the death penalty, which needed an unanimous decision to pass, the report said. The holdout jurors were only identified as one male and one female. While these jurors declined to speak with reporters, a juror, James Aldworth, 50, said the woman juror voted for life in prison for religious reasons. According to Aldworth, the male juror felt there must have experienced "horrible abuse" in Crawford's life to explain his actions.

Victims' family members were visibly upset at the verdict, crying and moaning as they left the courtroom, the report said. The sole survivor of Crawford's attacks, Claudia Robinson, said she "never imagined the jury would spare his life." [Chicago Breaking News]