Jury Recommends Death For James Turner

A St. Johns County jury deliberated for a little more than an hour Wednesday before recommending the death penalty for James Turner.

Prosecutors said Turner -- who had escaped from a South Carolina prison -- stabbed Renee Howard 15 times in a room at the Comfort Inn just off Interstate 95 at state Road 207 on Sept. 30, 2005. Turner also attacked her friend, who locked herself in the bathroom to get away from him.

On Tuesday, family members of the victim and family members of Turner took the stand in hopes of swaying the jury's decision.

Howard's oldest son told the jury his mother was a hard-working woman who tried to give her kids the world and who would never get to know her granddaughter.

The defense said Turner was a loving husband and father to three children that he took in as his own, and called Turner's 12-year-old stepdaughter to the stand.

"He took us fishing and then he fed us. He cooked our breakfast -- grits, eggs and stuff," said the girl.

Turner's defense attorney called several other witnesses to the stand during the sentencing phase, trying to convince the jury that Howard's death was not cold, calculated murder, but rather acts from a man who was abusing drugs and alcohol.

Turner kept his head down and wiped tears from his eyes as he listened to his stepchild and other loved ones describe better days.

Despite the pleas of Turner's family, the jury recommended Turner be put to death by a 10-2 vote.