A Virginia jury spared the life of an Army staff sergeant convicted of fatally shooting his wife and a rookie police officer after deadlocking Thursday on whether he should be executed.
The jury sent a note Thursday morning after 12 hours of deliberation over three days saying that it was split 6-6 on whether Ronald Hamilton, 34, of Woodbridge should be executed. Under Virginia law, a life sentence is imposed any time jurors are not unanimous for execution.
Hamilton will serve life in prison without possibility of parole for the deaths of his wife, Crystal Hamilton, and Officer Ashley Guindon, who was working her first shift after being sworn in. Hamilton shot and killed his wife in the family’s Woodbridge home in 2016. He then shot three police officers who responded. Guindon died. The other officers suffered serious injuries but survived.
