BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Two days after she told a jury that her son had endured a terrible childhood, Elease Miles returned to court Wednesday to see him avoid a death sentence.
Mrs. Miles wept as she listened to the same jury declare that her son should not be sent to death row for killing two brothers in a murder-for-hire scheme.
"Thank you," Mrs. Miles whispered, tears streaming down her face.
The jury's decision means that her son, Andre Miles, is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison for the Nov. 22 slayings of two Jordanian brothers in Westwood.
Mr. Miles' trial in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court is the last of three criminal cases that resulted from the investigation into the shooting deaths of Maher Khrais and Ziad Khreis.
Throughout each of the trials, prosecutors argued that Mr. Miles was the hit man in an elaborate murder-for-hire scheme that also involved Mr. Khrais' wife and an employee in his convenience store. The wife, Linda Khriss, is free because a jury found her not guilty of all charges four months ago.
The murder plot's middleman, Ahmad Fawzi Issa, was convicted of aggravated murder last month. The jury in his case has recommended a death sentence.
Mr. Miles' friends and relatives said they expected the same for him.
"We were probably expecting the death penalty," said Sharlena Reese, a family friend who sat with Mr. Miles' mother in court Wednesday. "Somebody on that jury must have felt some kind of compassion." She said Mr. Miles, who showed no emotion as the verdict was read, has told her he feels remorse over his crime. "I know he's sorry for what he's done," she said. "I feel so bad for (the victims') family. He did a terrible thing."
The victims' brother, Nidal Khrais, said he is baffled by a justice system that frees one accused killer, sends one to death row and sends another to prison for life.
"There is something wrong here," he said after the verdict. "If this man doesn't get the death penalty, who does?"
During his trial, prosecutors told jurors that Mr. Miles agreed to kill the two men after Mr. Issa promised to pay him about $10,000. They said Mr. Issa arranged the murders at the request of Mrs. Khriss, who wanted her husband dead because he was about to divorce her. In a statement to police, Mr. Miles admitted waiting outside the convenience store with a Chinese assault rifle until he spotted the brothers about 1 a.m. He said he shot them both even after they begged for their lives and emptied their pockets.
When jurors returned to hear their verdict read, several seemed upset and one buried his face in his hands.
A few hours earlier, one of the jurors was replaced with an alternate after she wrote a letter to Judge Arthur Ney saying she had decided she "couldn't give the death penalty." Prosecutors said it's unclear whether the change influenced the outcome.
Mr. Miles will return to court Oct. 26 for sentencing.
