TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- An Oklahoma man accused of fatally shooting his neighbor has been convicted of first-degree murder and hate crime charges.
BREAKING: Stanley Majors is found guilty on three counts: murder in the first degree, malicious intimidating, and threatening violence.
— Megan Allison (@mallisonKJRH) February 7, 2018
The 12-member jury on Wednesday found 63-year-old Stanley Vernon Majors guilty in the August 2016 shooting death of 37-year-old Khalid Jabara outside his Tulsa home. The jury recommended that Majors be sentenced to life without parole.
Prosecutors alleged that Majors killed Jabara after bombarding him with racial insults in a feud with Jabara's family that lasted several years.
The jury is now back in deliberation for sentencing. The defense asks they “show compassion” with a light sentence while the prosecution says the jury should “max him out.”
— Megan Allison (@mallisonKJRH) February 7, 2018
Majors previously pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and malicious intimidation and harassment, which is Oklahoma's hate-crime law.
Majors had undergone a mental competency examination and been found competent to stand trial. But defense attorneys had argued in court papers that Majors showed signs of dementia and appeared to have problems with his long-term memory. They said those issues interfered with their ability to prepare a defense.
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