"A police officer was executed from the back. He was killed in cold blood," said Cindy Bradford, who remains stunned that 10 people agreed the man who killed former HPD /*Officer Rodney Johnson*/ should live.
"I feel horrible about that. I feel horrible for the Johnson family," Bradford said.
The 44-year-old grandmother was one of two jurors who insisted Juan Quintero deserved death.
"But it only takes 10 to get life without parole, which I believe is a little bit of a flaw in the system," she said.
/*Quintero*/ shot Johnson in the back, as the officer sat in front of him in a patrol car filling out paperwork.
"I think that there are cases that warrant the death penalty, and I, 120 percent, believe that this was one of them," Bradford said.
Despite the crime's brutality, 10 jurors disagreed with Bradford, and chose life in prison without parole for Quintero.
"I feel like his life has value. For this person, the death penalty is not appropriate," juror Tiffany Moore said.
For Bradford, what feels wrong is the message she believes the verdict sends.
"That (Quintero's) life has more value than Officer Johnson's. That what that sounds like to me," Bradford said.
On Thursday Quintero was transferred to a Texas prison system intake unit in Huntsville. Over the next several weeks, prison officials will evaluate him and decide where Quintero should serve his life sentence.
