The Philadelphia Inquirer
COATESVILLE, Pa. — Laquanta Chapman, 33, of Coatesville, who was convicted Friday of murdering and butchering a Coatesville Area High School student because of a drug deal gone bad, was sentenced to death Wednesday night by a Chester County jury.
“Thank you, Jesus,” was the soft-voiced reaction from a cluster of family members of the slain Aaron Turner, 16, when the jury forewoman announced the sentence. Jurors deliberated from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
On Oct. 30, 2008, prosecutors charged, Chapman took Turner, who lived across the street in Coatesville, to Chapman’s basement, stripped him naked, and shot him dead. Chapman’s cousin Bryan Byrd, 23, testified that a few days after the murder, he helped Chapman cut up the body with chain saws and toss the remains into trash bags, along with body parts of a slain pit bull, in an effort to throw off investigators. Byrd pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and other charges in 2011 and awaits sentencing.
Judge William P. Mahon, who presided, thanked the jury of seven men and five women.
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