The Madison County jury considering the penalty LaJeromeny Brown, convicted of capital murder Tuesday for the 2019 shooting death of a Huntsville police officer, failed to reach a decision Wednesday.

Deliberations will continue Thursday as the jury decides between the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole for Brown.

The jury worked for about seven hours Wednesday. Late in the day, court reconvened so Circuit Judge Chris Comer could address a question the jury had about non-automatic aggravating circumstances in the penalty phase. The jury asked how to handle a non-automatic aggravating circumstance if they could not reach a unanimous decision. Comer re-read the instructions on non-automatic aggravating circumstances — which requires a unanimous decision for the jury to consider it — and the jury deliberated for about another hour before breaking for the day.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Brown under four aggravating circumstances: Brown knowingly created a great risk of death to many people, the murder was committed to avoid arrest, the murder was committed to disrupt a law enforcement operation and the victim was a police officer.

The circumstance of the victim being an on-duty police officer became automatic once the jury convicted Brown of capital murder.

Brown shot Clardy three times inside an abandoned north Huntsville house on Levert Street after police set a trap to arrest Brown – who arrived at the scene believing he was selling 100 pounds of marijuana to an interested customer, who happened to be an undercover drug task force officer.

Prosecutors said Brown fled the house after the shooting and he was captured moments later about a block away.

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