LUBBOCK, TEXAS (AP) -- A Texas jury spared a Missouri man the death penalty Tuesday, sentencing him to life in prison without parole for the 2005 slayings of a pregnant woman, her husband and son at their farmhouse.
Levi King, 27, pleaded guilty last month to killing Michell Conrad, 35; her husband Brian Conrad, 31; and her 14-year-old son, Zach Doan.
The Lubbock County jury had to answer two questions to give the death penalty: Is he a continuing threat to society, and did mitigating circumstances exist that warranted mercy?
Jurors answered yes to the first but were unable to answer the second, making the life sentence automatic.
"We're gratified the system worked like we wanted it to," defense attorney Maxwell Peck III said.
Prosecutor Lynn Switzer declined to comment.
Prosecutors presented photos showing the family members' bullet-ridden bodies lying in or near their beds and played audio from the 911 call made by the sole survivor, Robin Doan, who was 10 at the time of the killings.
The girl called authorities after King left the farmhouse near Pampa and could be heard sobbing as she told the dispatcher: "I want my mommy."
The now 14-year-old Robin Doan testified that she awoke to her mother's screams the night of Sept. 30, 2005, and heard the killer go from room to room, shooting her family members.
After the verdict, Robin Doan told King she forgives him. She also said she felt guilty about not being able to save her family, The Pampa News reported.
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