An Oklahoma jury has recommended a death sentence for a 36-year-old former oil worker convicted of raping and fatally beating a young mother and burning down her home with her child trapped inside.
The Oklahoman reports that Derek Don Posey was convicted in May on two counts of first-degree murder in the 2013 killings of 22-year-old Amy Gibbins and her 5-year-old son, Bryor.
The Canadian County District Court jurors recommended the death penalty on Thursday. Posey's formal sentencing is set for July.
Posey could become the fifth inmate to be sentenced to death in Oklahoma since executions were halted in 2015 following a series of bungled lethal injections. State officials are expected to establish a protocol to make Oklahoma the first state to use nitrogen in executions.