A firefighter avoided the death penalty Thursday for killing three people in a confrontation stemming from a neighbor’s Fourth of July fireworks, being sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole.
Cuyahoga County Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold followed the jury’s recommendation in sentencing Terrance Hough Jr., 36. The jury’s recommendation, returned earlier in the afternoon, prohibited the judge from imposing a death sentence.
Hough apologized on the witness stand Wednesday and again at his sentencing.
"I’d like to say that I’m sorry, your honor," Hough said.
The jury found him guilty of three counts of aggravated murder for the shooting deaths of next-door neighbor Jacob Feichtner and two of Feichtner’s friends.
Hough emerged from his house without warning early July 5 and shot Feichtner, 24, who was holding a party; Bruce Anderson, 30; and Katherine Rosby, 26.
The defense claimed that Hough had acted in a fit of temporary rage along a quiet street popular with Cleveland police officers and firefighters required to live in the city.
Hough’s wife had called police several times between 2003 and 2005 complaining about loud noise, drugs, underage drinking and problems with neighbors, police reports show.
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