The jurors who convicted him of murdering a dozen people and trying to kill 70 more at a midnight movie three years ago could not agree on a death sentence.
The jury of nine women and three men deliberated for less than seven hours over two days.
As the Denver Post reported, there were only two options for the jury:
“In order for Holmes to be sentenced to execution, the jurors must unanimously agree that death is the appropriate punishment for the man who killed 12 people inside the Century Aurora 16 theater on July 20, 2012. If they do not, Holmes will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.”
The sentencing decision comes on the heels of more than three months of testimony that was often emotional as survivors and families of those killed recalled how their lives were ripped apart by one of the largest mass shootings in U.S. history.