John Dennis Daniels showed no emotion Thursday afternoon as a Mecklenburg Superior Court jury convicted him of strangling his 77-year-old aunt with an electrical cord and beating his wife on the head with a hammer.

The jury must now decide if the 32-year-old Charlottean should be put to death or sentenced to life in prison for the killing of Isabella Daniels Crawford.

The jury of six men and six women deliberated about 90 minutes Thursday before convicting Daniels of first-degree murder, robbery, misdemeanor assault, attempted arson and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

He faces up to 44 years in prison on the assault and arson charges. After the verdict, Crawford`s daughter, Kathryn Joan Nelson, said, ``I feel he`s getting what he deserves.``

But she and other family members said they didn`t think Crawford would want Daniels to be executed.

``I have mixed feelings,`` Nelson said. ``He took my mother`s life and I don`t think she would have wanted it (Daniels` execution). She was a very forgiving person. As he was doing this to her, I`m sure she prayed for him, because that was her way.``

Daniels is accused of strangling his aunt with an orange, indoor-outdoor electrical cord at her home on Jan. 17.

Later that night, he beat his wife, Diane Durham Daniels, with a hammer in the head. He struck his 12-year-old son, Jonathan Maurice Daniels, during the scuffle with his wife and later threatened to kill a neighbor if he didn`t get out of his house.

Jonathan Daniels was treated for head wounds and released the same day. His mother spent more than a week recovering in the hospital.

On Monday, Diane Daniels told the jury that her husband attacked her while she slept in their bed.

``He hit me. I thought it was his elbow. When I came to my senses I realized he was beating me in the head with a hammer.``

Jurors found Daniels guilty Thursday based on premeditation as well as under the felony murder rule, deciding he had killed Crawford in the act of robbing her.