Alabama — A judge ordered a death sentence Friday for a man convicted of gunning down six members of his girlfriend's family at their rural home, a ruling that rejected the jury's recommendation of life in prison without parole.
Westley Devon Harris, 25, was convicted of capital murder in the 2002 slayings, which one prosecutor called an "unspeakable horror."
"This was not an easy decision because of my personal beliefs," said Circuit Judge Ed McFerrin, who had never imposed the death penalty before.
Prosecutor Troy King had urged McFerrin not to feel bound by the jury's 7-5 vote recommending life without parole.
Harris was convicted of gunning down six members of Janice Ball's family at their south Alabama farm during a daylong killing spree on Aug. 26, 2002, leaving dead her grandmother, mother, father and three teenage brothers.
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