TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Jurors already have determined that a second defendant convicted in a deadly Arizona home invasion in 2009 is eligible for the death penalty.
Now, a Pima County Superior Court jury is hearing testimony during the mitigation phase of Jason Eugene Bush’s capital-murder trial to determine if his life should be spared.
The 36-year-old Washington state resident was convicted March 25 of two counts of first-degree murder in the May 2009 deaths of Raul Flores and Flores’ 9-year-old daughter in Arivaca (ayr-uh-VAH’-kuh), south of Tucson.
Bush and co-defendants Shawna Forde and Albert Gaxiola were indicted in the killings in June 2009. Prosecutors alleged the three dressed as law enforcement officers and forced their way into the victims’ home.
Forde was sentenced to death in February. Gaxiola goes on trial June 1.
