Soldier who killed infant stepdaughter gets life in prison

RALEIGH -- The Iraq war veteran convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering his infant stepdaughter was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole today.

The same jury that told a judge on Monday they would not be able to come to a unanimous decision about a sentence came back on Tuesday after several more hours behind closed doors that they were hopelessly at an impasse.

Joshua Stepp, the 28-year-old former Army infantryman who killed Cheyenne Yarley in November 2009, when she was only 10 months old, was then sentenced by the judge.

The decision came after the six men and six women on the jury deliberated for five hours and 20 minutes about whether to impose the death penalty or a life sentence.

The jurors caused confusion and a flurry of motions from defense lawyers after sending a note to Judge Osmond Smith on Monday saying they had reached a decision on the sentence.

The jury handed the judge a verdict sheet reporting that Stepp should be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, not the death penalty as prosecutors had advocated.

But as the judge began to poll jurors individually, one woman indicated some support for the death penalty.

As is the case with the verdict, the sentencing decision must be unanimous in a capital case.

If all jurors cannot agree, the judge will declare a sentencing mistrial and then a sentence of life in prison without parole is automatically imposed.

But prosecutors said on Monday they wanted the jury to spend more time deliberating before the judge declared them at an impasse and spared Stepp from the harshest punishment.

Defense attorneys objected on Monday and Tuesday to Smith's decision to send the jury behind closed doors for further deliberations.

Tommy Manning said any sentence they returned with now would be "arbitrary and capricious" and violate the eighth and fourteenth amendments.