NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Michael Anderson should die for ambushing and slaying five teenagers in New Orleans in 2006, a jury has decided.
An Orleans Parish, La., jury Saturday recommended death on each of five murder counts against Anderson, 23, who sat silently as Criminal District Judge Lynda Van Davis read the jury's decisions, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Sunday.
Outside the courthouse, Anderson's parents told reporters the jury had convicted "an innocent man" and claimed he was mentally retarded.
Anderson is already serving a 5 1/2-year sentence in federal prison for a firearms violation. The newspaper said he is due back in court Dec. 11 for a pre-sentencing hearing.
Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro said the verdict should show city residents they need not fear retaliation from criminals who hold their neighborhoods hostage through threats. He hailed the testimony of a woman who was the slayings' single eyewitness, The Times-Picayune said.
No clear motive for the slayings was ever established because it was not needed for a conviction. But prosecutors said Anderson had "a beef" with the teens from an earlier run-in at a club and lured them to the corner on the pretext of resolving it, the newspaper said.
