CLEVELAND, Ohio — A jury has recommended death for serial killer Anthony Sowell.
Cuyahoga County Judge Dick Ambrose will actually sentence Sowell, but not until 9 a.m Friday.
Family members of some of Sowell’s victims broke into applause as Sowell was led out of the courtroom by sheriff’s deputies. Several also hugged attorneys and even the court reporter as the courtroom began to empty out.
Sowell simply nodded his head as he left through a doorway.
The jury had the power to recommend the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
Ambrose began reading the verdicts for each of Sowell’s 11 victims at 2:45 p.m.
One by one, he read a verdict that “the sentence of death should be imposed on the defendant, Anthony Sowell” for his crime.
Ambrose then polled the jury asking if each agreed with the unanimous verdict for the death penalty for Sowell. All 12 jurors said they were in agreement .
The jury — a panel of seven women and five men — began deliberations Tuesday afternoon and picked up again early this morning.
The jury re-entered the courrtoom around 2:30 p.m. Several relatives of victims went through metal detectors and were also seated in the courtroom.
Sowell, weaing an orange jumpsuit, entered the courtroom last and was seen briefly smiling and laughing with his attorneys.
Ambrose is not able to impose the death penalty without a recommendation from the jury — but he can reduce a death penalty recommendation to life in prision
.
