A young man could find out today whether he will live or die in the wake of his murder conviction, the first in the history of Eastern Tennessee’s federal courts district.

If sentenced to death, Rejon Taylor, 24, would join just 50 other prisoners now on death row in the federal prison system. Historically the domain of state judicial systems, death penalty cases are extremely rare in federal cases and are sanctioned only in the most extreme instances of “reckless disregard for human life.”

Prosecutors believe Mr. Taylor’s crime fits that description: a 2003 homicide that began months earlier with the systematic stalking of the victim by three teenagers and his subsequent interstate kidnapping and death by a gunshot to the mouth.

Jurors found Mr. Taylor guilty in mid-September of the first-degree murder, kidnapping and carjacking of Atlanta restaurant owner Guy Luck. Despite the conviction, Mr. Taylor continues to maintain his innocence and refuses to apologize for his crimes, and prosecutors say the refusal demonstrates the death penalty is an appropriate punishment.

“Two words we never heard from the defendant: ‘I’m sorry,’” Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Poole told jurors Tuesday on the last day of testimony in the penalty phase of the trial. Jurors were charged Tuesday and will resume deliberations this morning.

In testimony Tuesday, Mr. Poole played for jurors a telephone conversation recorded within the last month in which Mr. Taylor can be heard laughing as his sister on the other end seemingly mocks both the 55-year-old victim and the fiancee he left behind.

“Mr. Luck’s life was of no value to him,” Mr. Poole said. “We have seen absolutely no remorse from this defendant.”

To date the trial has been dominated by the prosecution, which began Aug. 25 and took three weeks to lay out its case against the defendant. The two friends who were with Mr. Taylor the day of Mr. Luck’s death already have pleaded guilty, but they do not face the death penalty as part of their plea agreements.

Once the jury declared Mr. Taylor guilty, the penalty phase began, dominated by the defense which introduced testimony from friends and family as well as a prominent expert on criminal behavior. The expert was paid $30,000 to analyze the “toxic” factors that might have led to the defendant’s “life of crime” at such a young age.

The defense is hoping to convince the jury not to put Mr. Taylor to death. Jurors only other alternative is to sentence him to life in prison.

Lead defense attorney Bill Ortwein said Tuesday that Mr. Taylor’s case had been a “huge burden” on him for the past five years.

“How do we convey to you the type of person Rejon Taylor really is?” Mr. Ortwein asked in his closing statements.

Texas-based psychologist Mark Cunningham had attempted to do so last week, testifying that some of the debilitating factors controlling Mr. Taylor’s life were his career-criminal father, being taught to use guns and a mother who provided no supervision and seemed to be complicit in criminal activities herself.

“As god-awful as they were, they influenced (Mr. Taylor’s) life,” Mr. Ortwein said Tuesday of the defendant’s family.

Mr. Taylor’s mother, Reba Taylor, sat in the courtroom Tuesday and is facing her own federal criminal charges for allegedly helping her son try to escape from the Hamilton County Jail in 2006.

Ms. Taylor and her other son and daughter, who have faithfully attended the court proceedings, declined comment Tuesday when asked to speak on behalf of Mr. Taylor.

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