Jury struggles with sentence for man who raped, killed teen


Save Story

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A jury outside Philadelphia has gone a second day without deciding whether to sentence a man to death for raping, strangling and dismembering his girlfriend's 14-year-old daughter.

Jacob Sullivan pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and related charges in the 2016 slaying of Grace Packer. Jurors spent hours in the deliberating room before telling a judge on Wednesday they are deadlocked on the sentence. They were ordered to keep at it.

Talks will resume Thursday.

If the jury can't come to a unanimous decision, Sullivan will automatically get life without parole.

Grace's mother, Sara Packer, is due to plead guilty for her role in the gruesome plot. In a plea deal with prosecutors, she'll be sentenced to life without parole.

Prosecutors say Sullivan acted out a rape-murder fantasy he shared with Sara Packer.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent U.S. stories

Related topics

The Associated Press
    KSL.com Beyond Business
    KSL.com Beyond Series

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button