ELYRIA — A three-judge panel that will decide whether convicted killer and rapist Ronald McCloud Jr. lives or dies began deliberating at about 10 a.m. today after hearing closing arguments in the penalty phase of his trial.

McCloud

McCloud, 30, looked serious and frowned slightly as attorneys argued about whether mitigating factors, including his difficult youth, outweigh factors involving the brutal killing of 57-year-old Lorain church worker Janet Barnard who was strangled and left partially clothed in a bathroom.

Defense attorney Daniel Wightman said risk factors — including trauma from being beaten, locked in closets and forced to fight the battles of his mother, a crack cocaine addict — “is not an excuse but it’s a factor in shaping what he did.”

“I don’t characterize this as a tough childhood…it’s far beyond that,” Wightman said.

But Assistant County Prosecutor Tony Cillo questioned the quality of the evidence saying that McCloud’s family met as a unit with the psychologist hired by the defense.

“If the state of Ohio did that we would have been criticized to no end,” Cillo said.

“Mr. McCloud is the worst offender and this is the worst offense,” Cillo said.