the state supreme court has vacated 1 of the death sentences against Andrew Lyons.

the state supreme court has vacated 1 of the death sentences against Andrew Lyons. His 2nd death sentence remains.
Lyons was convicted in 1996 of killing his 22-year-old girlfriend, Bridgette Harris, and her 49-year-old mother, Evelyn Sparks, in September of 1992. Lyons was convicted of manslaughter in the death of his 11-month-old son Dontay.
The jury recommended a death sentence for Lyons in the death of the girlfriend's mother but could not agree on a death penalty recommendation for the death of the girlfriend. The judge, however, sentenced Lyons to death twice.
The state supreme court says the United States Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that a judge cannot sentence someone to death unless a jury recommends the punishment. For that reason, the state court has vacated the death sentence made without a jury recommendation and has re-sentenced Lyons to life without parole in that killing.
The other death sentence, handed down with a jury's recommendation, remains.