USA - Ohio. A jury recommended death penalty for Shawn Ford Jr., 20, Black

A Summit County jury recommended death penalty for Shawn Ford Jr., 20, Black, convicted of beating his girlfriend's parents to death with a sledgehammer. The jury recommended he be given the death sentence for the April 2003 killing of 59-year-old Margaret Schobert. The jury split its decision, recommending that Ford be given life in prison without parole for the slaying of 56-year-old Jeffrey Schobert. Judge Tom Parker will have the final decision when he sentences Ford later. Prosecutors said Ford and a 14-year-old boy killed the Schoberts in their home because they kept Ford from seeing their daughter after he severely beat her. They said the Schoberts' killings came 10 days after Ford stabbed and critically injured their daughter for refusing him sex. The teenage boy charged in the case is awaiting trial.