USA - Alabama. A jury recommends death for Jerry Jerome Smith

A Houston County jury recommends 10-2 death for Jerry Jerome Smith. This is the fourth time Smith, 43, Black, is sentenced to death for killing 40-year-old Willie James Flournoy, 26-year-old Theresa Ann Helms and 29-year-old David Lee Bennett in 1996 over a drug debt that Flournoy owed him. His 1st 2 death sentences were overturned by appeals court. He was sentenced to death again in 2012, but the Court of Appeals struck down that sentence on June 7, 2013 (see) because of erroneous instructions given to the jury. The final decision on Smith's fate will be up to Judge Michael Conaway. A sentencing date has not been set.