Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Jury Deadlocks on Penalty for Murderer : Court: Judge declares mistrial in sentencing phase of trial. Defendant was convicted of slaying rent-a-car business owner and another man.

SAN FERNANDO — A Superior Court judge declared a mistrial after a jury deadlocked on whether a 23-year-old Lancaster man should be sentenced to die for the 1991 execution-style slayings of his former boss and another employee.

Judge Charles L. Peven declared the mistrial in the trial’s penalty phase Monday after the jury split 7 to 5 in favor of recommending that Michael Williams be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The San Fernando Superior Court jury convicted Williams on Nov. 1 of fatally shooting Mohammed Dahan, the owner of the Ugly Duckling Rent-A-Car business in Lancaster, and Ibrahim Alsehrewerdi, an employee of the company, during an apparent robbery in August, 1991.

Several months before the murders, Williams had worked as a mechanic for Dahan at an auto body repair shop next to the rent-a-car business.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Andrew Flier, who prosecuted the case, said the jury balked at sentencing Williams to die because of his boyish looks.

“With his youthful appearance . . . I think it was hard for the jury to convict someone who looked like that,” Flier said Tuesday after interviewing some of the jurors.

The district attorney’s office must decide by Dec. 20 whether to seek another trial in which a new jury would decide whether to recommend the death penalty. If not, Williams will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.