California IN BRIEF : SANTA ANA : Jury Deadlocks on Using Death Penalty

A jury deadlocked over sending Maria del Rosio Alfaro, a 20-year-old mother of four, to the gas chamber for stabbing to death an Anaheim schoolgirl who was the only witness to a robbery. Superior Court Judge Theodore E. Millard declared a mistrial in the penalty phase for Alfaro, who was convicted of killing 9-year-old Autumn Wallace. Alfaro, who said she was under the influence of drugs, stabbed the girl more than 50 times on June 15, 1990. The district attorney’s office said it would retry the penalty phase, again seeking the death penalty.