Denise Lipscomb buried her head and sobbed Tuesday after hearing the jury verdict that could make her the only woman on Ohio's death row.

        Her victim's mother, Sally Arcady, looked on from the front row of the courtroom, shaking her head.

        “She must believe in the death penalty,” Mrs. Arcady said of Ms. Lipscomb, “because that's what she gave my son.”

        A death sentence for Ms. Lipscomb is a possibility because the Hamilton County jury convicted her of aggravated murder in the shooting death of John Arcady, a Cincinnati cab driver.

        Mr. Arcady, 49, was shot in the back of the head Sept. 27 last year while Ms. Lipscomb and three others robbed him.

        Prosecutors say Ms. Lipscomb intended to kill Mr. Arcady when she pulled the trigger. Ms. Lipscomb told police she didn't mean for the gun to go off.

        The jury verdict means the 26-year-old Winton Place woman now must face the trial's “penalty phase,” during which prosecutors and defense attorneys will argue about the most appropriate punishment.

        The 12 jurors will then decide whether to recommend a death sentence, life in prison without parole or a prison term that allows parole after 30 years.

        If they recommend death — and if Common Pleas Judge Thomas Crush accepts that recommendation — Ms. Lipscomb will become the only woman on death row in Ohio.

        Prosecutors are expected to ar gue that death is the proper punishment for Mr. Arcady's murder. They say Ms. Lipscomb planned the robbery with her partners, held the gun during the robbery and pulled the trigger after the money changed hands.

        Defense attorneys will call on family members and others to testify about Ms. Lipscomb and her life before the shooting. They expect to finish their part of the trial by Thursday.

        One of Ms. Lipscomb's attorneys, Perry Ancona, said he was disappointed in the verdict.

        Mrs. Arcady said she was relieved because the verdict makes it possible for Ms. Lipscomb to spend the rest of her life in prison. She said she is not seeking a death sentence.

        “I didn't ask for the death penalty,” Mrs. Arcady said. “It's in the hands of the jury now.”

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