Shawn Ford

Shawn Ford was sentenced to death on Friday.

(Adam Ferrise, Northeast Ohio Media Group)

AKRON, Ohio — A jury recommended that the man accused killing his girlfriend's parents with a sledgehammer should face the death penalty.

The jury on Friday recommended that Shawn Ford, 20, face execution in the murder of Margaret Schobert, and life in prison for the death of her husband Jeffrey Schobert.

Summit County Judge Tom Parker now must decide whether to accept or reject the jury's recommendation. Parker will schedule a hearing that will occur within the next two weeks. He did not set a specific date.

The judge will also hold a hearing to determine whether Ford is eligible for the death penalty due to a low IQ which was placed between 62 and 80, according to mental evaluations introduced as evidence during the trial. That hearing will be held sometime before the sentencing hearing.

Several jurors wept during as their decision was read. They declined comment while quickly leaving the courthouse on Friday.

Ford's family also left without commenting. Schobert family members declined comment, citing a gag order by Parker.

Parker warned Ford before the jury entered the courtroom to remain stoic during their verdict. Parker said Ford told sheriff's deputies that he planned to "some kind of demonstration" if the jury returned a death recommendation.

Ford told Parker he was "being sarcastic" when he made the comments.

"This is not a time for sarcasm," Parker responded. Ford made no demonstration and sat with his head down during the hearing.

The jurors heard three days of tearful, often dramatic testimony in the death-penalty phase of the case. Defense attorneys portrayed Ford as a broken young man with an abusive and traumatizing upbringing.

Prosecutors characterized Ford as a sociopathic manipulator who bashed Jeffrey Schobert to death then lured Margaret Schobert to her death by sending her text messages from her dead husband's phone.

A fight between Ford and their daughter Chelsea Schobert set off a chain of events that culminated in the couple's murder, prosecutor's said.

Ford attacked Chelsea Schobert, his girlfriend at the time, on March 23, 2013 after she declined to have sex with him during a birthday celebration.

The attack left Chelsea Schobert hospitalized at Akron Children's Hospital for a month. The Schoberts talked and sometimes argued with their daughter about them barring Ford from seeing their daughter, prosecutors said.

Jeffrey Schobert, 56, went home from the hospital April 1, 2013. Ford and a then-14-year-old boy, Jamal Vaughn, climbed through a bedroom window to the Schobert's home, grabbed a sledgehammer from the garage and beat Jeffrey Schobert with it 14 times, killing him, according to prosecutors.

Ford and Vaughn, who is being tried as an adult in a separate trial, played video games and drank soft drinks while they waited for Margaret Schobert to return home, according to prosecutors. Ford then sent text messages to Margaret Schobert from Jeffrey Schobert's phone, asking her when she was coming home.

Margaret Schobert came home about 6 a.m. on April 2 and Ford and Vaughn struck her 19 times with a sledgehammer, prosecutors said.