HOUSTON (AP) - A jury handed the death penalty verdict to a Houston man convicted of capital murder for killing two people 10 years ago.
A Harris County jury deliberated for less than five hours Tuesday before deciding that Lucky Ward should be handed a death penalty, not life in prison without parole, for strangling a transgender woman, Charlie Rodriguez, and a homeless woman, Reita Long, in 2010.
Ward, 55, didn’t show visible reactions when Texas District Judge Chuck Silverman read the verdict in Harris County Criminal Court on Tuesday. But as he was leaving the courtroom, he addressed the family of one victim, the Houston Chronicle reported.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
The jury last week convicted Ward of murder, and on Tuesday, it agreed with prosecutors on that Ward continues to be a threat to society.
Texas law allows death sentences to be appealed automatically.
Long’s family, including daughter and sister, on Tuesday took the witness stand.
“I will never get to see or touch her again,” said Long’s daughter, Chanel Long. “You murdered my mother, and I remember like it was yesterday.”
Long was a teacher and homeless at the time of her death in 2010. She was discovered with a bra wrapped around her neck. Rodriguez, a transgender woman and a hairdresser, was found that same year in her home, nude and covered by blankets.
Prosecutors also suspect Ward strangled at least three other women, but he was only charged and convicted for murdering Rodriguez and Long.
“Jurors had the courage to look at all the evidence, give a voice to the victims, and declare that he was the worst of the worst,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said after the verdict. “Ward tortured and brutalized his victims with no mercy.”
Ward’s defense attorneys declined the newspaper’s request for comment after the trial.
In closing statements on Tuesday, defense attorneys pointed to trauma Ward experienced while growing up, through sexual abuse from his uncle and physical abuse from his father. According to testimony, Ward’s trauma led to his diagnoses of schizoaffective disorder.
“Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes,” attorney Jimmy Ortiz said in closing statements. “In this case, Mr. Ward was dealt a very bad deck of cards.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.