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Nov 5, 2009 2:40 pm US/Eastern
Jury Sentences Yarbrough To Life In Prison
WASHINGTON, PA (KDKA) ―
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Terrell Yarbrough (File)
KDKA
A jury has sentenced the man convicted in the shooting deaths of two Franciscan University students to life in prison.
Earlier this week, the Washington County jury convicted Terrell Yarbrough of first-degree murder in the 1999 deaths of Aaron Land and Brian Muha.
After the verdict was read, Yarbrough reportedly tearfully apologized to the victims' families and said that he knows he can't undo what has happened.
Kathleen O'Hara, the mother of victim Aaron Land, told Yarbrough that she appreciates his apology.
Chris Muha, the brother of victim Brian Muha, told Yarbrough that his tears don't satisfy him until he shows real change. And Muha's mother, Rachel, told him that he should spend his life trying to be as good as the victims were.
This morning, during closing arguments, the prosecution told the jury that while the defense advocated for Yarbrough's life, "who advocated for those boys when they were forced to perform sexual acts on one another and when they were taken in the middle of the night to be shot to death?"
Assistant District Attorney Chad Schneider told the jury a death sentence is appropriate under the law.
Meanwhile, defense attorney Kenneth Haber told the jury "they want you to kill this man [Yarbrough] when he did not actually kill anyone. Yes, he participated but Nathan Herring shot and killed those innocent young men. He should face the death penalty not Yarbrough."
Afterward, O'Hara said she was furious over the defense's argument that Yarbrough's participation was "relatively minor."
The jury began deliberations around 11:30 a.m. and reached a verdict just before 2 p.m.
The victims' families had spoken out against the death penalty.
"We want to honor Brian, but we don't want anyone killed because of Brian or for our sake," said Chris Muha. "We were just glad to be able to talk about Brian today; how he's still influencing our lives."
This is the second trial for Yarbrough.
Yarbrough and Herring were tried separately in Ohio and convicted of first-degree homicide in 2001.
However, an appeals court ruled the case should have been tried in Pennsylvania.
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