The man convicted of killing a Marietta teenager in 2008 will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole, the jury that convicted him recommended Thursday evening.
After delivering a guilty verdict on the charge of capital murder, a Lee County jury recommended Courtney Lockhart be sentenced to life in prison for killing 2007 Walton High graduate and Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk.
The jury took about an hour to decide Lockhart’s fate. The sentence will be finalized in a Jan. 23 hearing.
Lauren’s father, Jim Burk, thanked the district attorney, jury and police chief in a prepared statement.
“Our family went through a tough two and a half years until to get to this resolution today,” he said. “Our family is at peace.”
The courtroom was filled with Burk’s family and friends and the group reacted emotionally as the verdict was read by Judge Jacob Walker III.
Lee County District Attorney Nick Abbett convinced the jury that Lockhart’s crime met the criteria befitting the death sentence, that it was a murder during the commission of a robbery and during a kidnapping. The prosecution didn’t call a single witness in the sentencing phase.
“I would have liked to have seen a sentence recommendation of death, but I’m appreciative of the jury’s service and I never question their judgment,” said Abbett, who was prosecuting his last case before retiring in January. “I’m glad that justice could be done for Lauren and her family.”
Defense attorney Jeremy Armstrong pleaded for Lockhart’s life, calling friends and family members to describe Lockhart before and after his U.S. Army service in Iraq.
Speaking to Burk’s mother, Viviane Guerchon, from the witness stand, Lockhart’s mother, Catherine Williams, offered a tearful apology.
“I am sorry from the bottom of my heart,” Williams said. “If I could take away what happened to your daughter, I would. But I don’t have that power. I feel your pain because I’m a mother too. If I could, I would get up and hug you, but they probably wouldn’t let me do that. I am sorry.”
Lockhart had pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The defense said he demonstrated symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, although examinations failed to diagnose Lockhart with the problem.
His estranged father, Curtis James, testified about not being available for his son and recounted seeing Lockhart for the first time in decades when he arrived in court Thursday.
“I saw my son for the first time in 20 years,” James said. “I asked him if he was OK. He said, ‘Where were you.’”
Lethal injection or life without the possibility of parole were the only two options the jury had after reaching its verdict.
The eight men and four women deliberated for six and a half hours before finding Lockhart guilty. The jury, made up of three blacks and nine whites, had asked the judge for clarification of intent and asked to see Lockhart’s full confession video a second time before reaching a decision.
Lockhart, of Smith’s Station, Ala., admitted on tape to abducting, robbing and holding a gun that fired and killed Burk on March 4, 2008.
Burk was found naked and dying after being shot in the back about four miles from the Auburn University campus, where she was a freshman.
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