ST. LOUIS (AP) - A St. Louis jury is unable to decide whether a 23-year-old man convicted of fatally stabbing and burning his former friend should be sentenced to death.
That leaves the decision about whether Fredrick Barnes should receive a death sentence or life in prison without parole in the hands of a judge. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that no sentencing date has been set.
Jurors deliberated about four hours Friday before deadlocking on the sentence. They found Barnes guilty Thursday of first-degree murder in the September 2007 death of 24-year-old Dwoyne Ammons.
Barnes also was accused of raping, sodomizing and stabbing the victim's girlfriend before setting the apartment on fire. Prosecutors said Barnes was still alive when the fire was set and that his body was burned beyond recognition.
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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com