Ohio Jury Recommends Death for Cleveland Serial Killer

A Cleveland Jury recommended on Wednesday that convicted serial killer Anthony Sowell be sentenced to death.

Reuters reported that jurors decided that "the aggravated circumstances outweighed the mitigating factors" on all 11 murder counts against Sowell. If he had been found guilty on just one count he would have been eligible for the death penalty, the news agency said.

The same jury convicted Sowell, 51, of killing 11 women, whose decomposing bodies were found around his home in 2009. The women's bodies were found when police attempted to arrest him for rape and assault, according to Reuters.

The jury, seven women and five men, deliberated for about seven hours before recommending the death penalty for each of Sowell's dead victims.

"It screamed death penalty. I know that the jury worked hard and it was a difficult decision, but at the end of the day, they followed the law," Assistant County Prosecutor Pinkey Carr told the Chicago Tribune. "They may not have liked the position that they were put in, but they worked hard and this is what justice is all about."

Defense Attorney Rufus Sims said the team accepts the decision of the jury.

"Friday will be the end of our involvement with the case," he said.