Deputy District Attorney Lisa Green told the jurors that the only appropriate punishment is death.

“There is only one question,” Green said.

“What punishment does the defendant Vincent Brothers deserve?”

“I’m quite sure that none of you imagined that none of you thought that you would be in this position making this extremely difficult decision,” Green said.

“It is one of the most serious decisions you will ever make,”

“Always remember and always be guided by the knowledge that you are here, you are in this position because of what he did on July 6, 2003,”

“Remember you are here because of him because of what he did and because of choices he made,”

“His choice to brutally murder five people,”

“I do not have the burden of proof any longer,” Green said.

“One aggravating circumstances is enough,” Green said.

She said there are two aggravating factors.

“The primary factor is factor A,”

“The only appropriate sentence is a sentence of death,”

They can consider all of the evidence from the guilt and the death penalty phase.

“Now that you know how they were murdered, the planning that went into it, the calculated way the defendant killed a sleeping mother...the way the defendant shot a 4-year-old boy,”

The crime is “so brutal, so immoral,” that Brothers deserves the death penalty on this alone, Green said.

The jurors can consider the impact the deaths had on the Harper family and on the community.

“It helps you to access the enormity of the offense,” Green said.

Joanie was a good athlete, she was a loving mother, Green said.

Green quotes Maya Angelou, “People will forget what you said...but they won’t forget how you made them feel.”

“She was a strong woman in a day when being strong was not fashionable...she was a working mother in a day when maybe that was not fashionable,” Green said.

Her faith in God translated to her children, Green said.

“She tried at all times to better herself so she could better her family,” Green said.

“She bettered herself by going from a one-bed room apartment to buying a house,”

“She raised five wonderful children,” Green said.

“When you deliberate and you consider the harm..please consider that ()the children) will never see their mother again, their sister again, and their niece and nephews again,”

Green said the second factor the jurors should consider is the use of violence.

She said this involves the incident with Shann Kern from 1988 when Brothers punched her in the face repeatedly.

“You can only find this a factor in mitigation if you found that true beyond a reasonable doubt,” Green said.

The crime would be corporal injury on a co-habitant or a battery.

She remains the jurors that Keith Powell was remembering the incident from about 20 years ago and that it didn’t involve him.

“I’m not suggesting that he is lying, I’m just suggesting that his memory isn’t very clear and is inaccurate,” Green said.

His comment to Kern was “Why did you keep getting up, as if somehow it were her fault,” Green said.

She told the jurors that Kern was two months pregnant at the time.

Green said Brothers was not emotionally disturbed.

Green said there is no evidence he was acting under the influence of another.

Green said Brothers’ age is not a factor in mitigation because at the time he committed the crimes he was 41 years old.

Green said defense attorneys typically argue this when their client is young to suggest he did not know any better. “He was 41, you have found he committed these crimes in a premeditated and deliberate way and he did know better,” Green said.

“The only factor that any of the defense evidence falls under is K. That allows sympathy, pity for the defendant.