a Bexar County jury sentenced Ronnie Joe Neal to death after rejecting...

a Bexar County jury sentenced Ronnie Joe Neal to death after rejecting his claim that he suffers mental retardation. The same jury convicted Neal, 35, of capital murder last month. District Judge Sid Harle will formalize the sentence in the next weeks. The ruling ended a widely publicized case known as much for the brutality of the November 2004 crime as for the disturbing story behind the relationship between the 2 killers. Neal's 16-year-old daughter, Pearl Cruz, gave birth to her father's son in July, the culmination of a sexually abusive relationship that lasted two years. Cruz turned State's witness in exchange for a plea deal. She gave jurors a vivid picture of how she and her father held the victim, Diane Tilly, captive for four hours while they looted her house and Neal raped her. She said they drove her to a dark field where Neal shot her as she pleaded for her life.