During closing arguments, Byers' attorney raised questions about witnesses, including Lackl.
Among those also convicted in the case were Jonathan Cornish, a gang member paid $2,500 to kill Lackl as a part of a Bloods gang mission, and Marcus "Pound" Antwan Pearson, 28, who was hired to coordinate the killing. Both testified against Byers.
Last week, Byers' attorneys presented testimony that Byers grew up with a drug-addicted mother and a father who was a violent criminal who teamed up with his then-15-year-old son to sell heroin. Experts said Byers had an IQ of 77, bordering on mental retardation.
Defense attorney William Purpura asked the jury to consider compassion in its verdict, to recognize that Byers had the capacity for repentance and that he would never again be a free man, even if he weren't sentenced to death
"We're extremely pleased and relived that this ordeal is over," Purpura said Monday. "This is the best type of closure in a capital case."
In an unusual move, Bennett allowed Byers to spend 15 minutes privately with his grandmother, who raised him. Purpura said defense attorneys did not request the meeting.
WBAL-TV reported that Byers would be transported to the Terre Haute maximum-security facility in Indiana, which is home to the federal system's death row. Joseph Gunja, who worked 27 years in the federal prison system, including overseeing facilities in the Western Region, said inmates obtaining contraband such as cell phones in federal prisons is extremely rare.
"It depends on where he's going, but getting a cell phone inside should be almost impossible to do," said Gunja, who is now an expert witness and correctional consultant.
Outside the courthouse, some members of Byers' family switched to an apologetic stance toward Lackl's family, after television cameras captured them yelling last month at Lackl's family after Byers was convicted.
"The whole [Byers] family is sorry for the loss," said cousin Tyrice Cole. "We have been through it, losing a family member, and have lived both sides."
But Ebony Green, the mother of one of Byers' children, maintained Byers' innocence and said he had been unfairly portrayed in the news media.
"He was not a monster, not no Blood [member], he was none of that," Green said. "He was a loving father, just like Carl Lackl."
