Man gets death for killing Indian in US store

A jury in Houston County, Alabama, recommended the death penalty for a second man in the murder of Prakash Shah at the Southeast Mini-Mart in Dothan, April 20, 2004.

Lameco Turner, 22, was earlier convicted of shooting Shah, who came to the store bringing dinner to his son-in-law Hetal around 9 pm that day.

Turner's accomplice and cousin Ray Grace, 22, too was sentenced to death by the jury in 2006, but the judge commuted it to life in prison without parole. The sentencing judge had then noted that Grace was not the actual shooter.

The jury deliberated less than half an hour before returning the death sentence recommendation for Turner.

At least 10 of the 12 jurors must agree on the death sentence before it can be recommended. The jury returned the death sentence recommendation on an 11-1 vote.

In the case of Grace, 11 members of the jury recommended the death penalty but one recommended life without parole. Turner's younger brother, Tarris, was also convicted and sentenced to 99 years in prison.

Defense attorney Tom Brantley told jurors that Turner showed remorse as he cried when the guilty verdict was announced.

But District Attorney Doug Valeska placed Shah's blood-stained clothes on top of a chair, along with his shoes, for the jury and said, 'there were only tears after he knew his life is on the line. That copper-jacketed bullet comes screaming out and hits him (Shah) with what I call a gut shot. They ran off like thieves in the night and they stole his life.'

Valeska argued Turner deserved no mercy because he gave none to Shah.

"Life is the most sanctified thing we have, and he had no right to take it," the local media quoted Valeska as saying.

Judge Lawson Little pointed out to the jurors that Turner had no significant prior criminal history, and his IQ of 70 is considered borderline retarded. He had a head injury as a child after his mother struck him with a bottle. But the jury did not see them as relevant. Valeska said Turner pointed a 9 mm handgun at Shah and pulled the trigger after Shah failed to give him any money.

According to the police, the three accused got into the store around 9.15 pm. Hetal was at the rear of the store. Turner pulled out a handgun and asked Shah for money, which he declined. Shah picked up the phone to call police. Turner then fired one shot into Shah's abdomen, the court papers said.

In his testimony, Devinder Singh, owner of the nearby Sandhar Grocery, said that a week before the murder Grace pointed a gun at him and his wife and demanded money. Singh threw a chair at Grace and knocked him down.