Same jury will decide if Lovejoy is eligible for death

The same DuPage County jury that convicted Laurence Lovejoy of murder Tuesday will now decide whether he’s eligible for the death penalty.

Lovejoy, 44, was found guilty of murdering 16-year-old stepdaughter Erin “EJ” Justice in Aurora on March 27, 2004.

The teen had accused Lovejoy of raping her about three weeks before she was poisoned, beaten, stabbed and drowned.

Jurors are slated to return Wednesday to decide whether Lovejoy fits death penalty criteria.

To make the determination that he does, jurors would have to find that Lovejoy either killed Justice in a “cold and calculated manner” or that he murdered a witness.

If jurors find Lovejoy is eligible for death, they would then weigh aggravating and mitigating factors to decide whether that sentence is appropriate.

Lovejoy faces up to natural life in prison if he is not sentenced to death.

This phase of Lovejoy’s trial comes less than a month after the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation to abolish the death penalty.

Gov. Pat Quinn has until mid-March to act on the bill or it becomes law. He has said he is carefully reviewing the legislation but has not indicated one way or the other yet whether he intends to sign it.