JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

James Jones II talks Monday to attorney Jimmy Turk in Radford Circuit Court. Jones was cleared of capital murder charges.

RADFORD -- The two-week-long trial of James Jones II came to a dramatic ending on Friday when a judge declared a mistrial because jurors were unable to reach a decision on how Jones should be sentenced.

After meeting behind a closed door for about 12 hours over three days, the jury announced Friday morning that its members unanimously found Jones was not guilty of capital murder, the most serious charge he faced, and use of a firearm in capital murder in the 2006 death of Ken Henry. Capital murder is punishable only by life in prison or the death penalty.

Even after that charge was off the table, Jones, 24, still faced the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison. The jury found him guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery, using a firearm in the commission of robbery, and robbery -- a crime punishable by as few as five years in prison or as much as life.

It was that wide sentencing range that brought the jury of eight women and four men to a stalemate.

About lunchtime Friday, they wrote a note to Circuit Court Judge Joey Showalter saying they were unable to reach a unanimous decision about sentencing. Showalter asked them to try again.

About 5 p.m., the jury's forewoman told a bailiff the jury still was unable to reach a decision.

The mistrial means Jones will be tried again, but only on the three charges of which he was convicted. Because of the mistrial, his convictions are not valid.

He cannot be charged again with murder, even a form of murder less serious than capital murder, in the case.

"Thank you, God," Jones said after Showalter adjourned court. He hugged most of his five defense attorneys, who included four men from the capital defenders office. Some of the attorneys also hugged one another and Jones' mother, Gwen Anthony.

"It's a win-win in every respect," defense attorney Jimmy Turk said after the hearing. "We actually got rid of the most significant charges against him. We're in a lot better shape than we were before.

"For Jay's sake," he said, "I'm happy that he's going to get another opportunity to present his case again."

Jones has been held in the New River Valley Regional Jail in Dublin since he was arrested in July 2006.

Because he would have been sentenced to at least five years on the robbery conviction and three years on the firearm conviction, Jones was looking at a minimum of eight years in prison after Friday's hearing. But because of the mistrial and the acquittal on the capital charge, he could be released from jail on bond. Turk said he will request a bond hearing as soon as next week.

He also said he will ask that Jones' second trial be moved out of Radford. A new trial date will likely be set soon.

It remains unclear what the mistrial may mean for Jones' former fiancee, Kelly McKenzie Brubeck. Jones and Brubeck were the only people inside Brubeck's Davis Street apartment with Henry the evening he was fatally shot.

A neighbor called 911 at 7:16 p.m. July 5, 2006, after seeing Henry bleeding and yelling for help in the parking lot of the apartment building.

Brubeck at first told several people, including police, a neighbor and her mother, that she shot Henry after he tried to rob her at gunpoint.

She later told police that Jones had shot Henry. She told them she lied at first because she loved him.

During two days of testimony last week, Brubeck said she and Jones set up a drug deal with Henry to get him to the apartment. They planned to rob him, she said, but the killing was never planned.

She said she watched as Jones shot Henry.

Jones told jurors he saw Brubeck shoot Henry during an argument.

He also lied to police at first, saying he had slept through the whole incident and awoke only after Brubeck screamed. He testified that he lied because he didn't want to be the one to eventually put Brubeck behind bars.

Brubeck is charged with second-degree murder in the case and is also being held in the New River Valley Regional Jail. A court date for her has not been set.

During his sentencing hearing Friday, it was revealed to jurors that Jones had served jail time in connection with a double killing in West Virginia.

Jones was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the April 2001 killings of John and Kim Stepp in McDowell County. Jones, who was 16 at the time, had gone to the Stepps' mobile home with three men when one of them, Keith Molineaux, shot the Stepps execution-style.

Involuntary manslaughter is a misdemeanor offense in West Virginia.

Jones was kept in a juvenile detention facility until he turned 18, when he was moved to jail. He was released in October 2005, just nine months before Henry was fatally shot.

"You know a whole lot more about the defendant than you did two weeks ago," Radford Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Rehak told jurors in his closing argument during the sentencing hearing. "The defendant's already had chances to turn his life around. Nothing has worked."

In his closing argument, defense attorney Steve Milani told jurors, "I think it's wrong to say, 'I can predict the future' " and assume Jones would "never amount to anything."

From the witness stand, Jones maintained that he didn't rob Henry.

"I wish he was here," he said of Henry. "I wish he could tell y'all."

Jones asked jurors for their mercy. He said he wants to get an education and "just get into mainstream life."

"I just want to have a chance to live, that's all," he told them.