READING (AP) — A Pennsylvania man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and her 5-year-old daughter has been convicted of first-degree murder and could get the death penalty.
Berks County prosecutors say 28-year-old Albert Perez-Ledbetter of Reading fabricated a suicide note to pin the blame on 22-year-old Duceliz Diaz-Santiago. They say he tried to make it look like his ex-girlfriend killed her daughter, Kayla, and then killed herself on Jan. 15, 2007. It happened in her apartment in Bernville, about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
The jury convicted him Tuesday and the penalty phase begins Wednesday. If the jury can't agree unanimously that Perez-Ledbetter deserves the death penalty, he automatically gets life in prison.
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May 19, 2009
