Jury recommends death sentence in slaying of HD manager

The trial of a man accused of killing a Home Depot store manager in a 2007 robbery attempt ended in a guilty verdict with a recommended death sentence, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times.

Jason Richardson, 40, entered a Tustin store in Southern California disguised as a painter and shot store manager Thomas Egan in the stomach after Egan tried to discourage him from hurting anyone, the Orange County district attorney's office said. Richardson fled with $500, but investigators identified him through a DNA match on a sock full of ammunition he left behind.

Egan was the father of twin daughters under the age of five when he was killed. 

When arrested in Oceanside, Calif., Richardson was on parole for a 2002 spousal abuse conviction. He had a string of convictions that included rape, sexual assault on a child, grand theft burglary, narcotics and possession of stolen property, police said.

Two previous juries this year and last year were unable to reach a verdict regarding the death penalty, according to the newspaper. Richardson is scheduled to be formally sentenced Nov. 18 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.