U.S. jury begins deliberations on possible death penalty for Brendt Christensen

Julie Brain, defense attorney for Brendt Christensen, heads to the federal courthouse building in Peoria, Illinois, the United States, on July 17, 2019. After a U.S. judge concludes all the evidence from the sentencing phase in the Chinese scholar slaying trial Tuesday, closing arguments from both prosecutors and the defense started here Wednesday morning. The closing arguments of the sentencing phase for Brendt Christensen who was found guilty of killing Zhang Yingying in 2017 took place around 9 a.m.(1400 GMT) at a federal court of Peoria, in the U.S. state of Illinois. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)