/ CBS
(CBS/AP) PHOENIX - The jury in the penalty phase of the trial of convicted killer Jodi Arias was unable to reach a unanimous decision on sentencing, and was dismissed by the judge in a Maricopa County courtroom late Thursday afternoon, in Phoenix, Ariz. The judge said the retrial of the penalty phase only will commence July 18 with a new panel of jurors.READ: Jodi Arias: A timeline of a sensational murder case
PICTURES: Jodi Arias pleads with jurors for life sentence
The same jury that convicted Arias of first-degree murder for the killing of her onetime boyfriend Travis Alexander was weighing whether the 32-year-old former waitress should be sentenced to life in prison, or to the death penalty.
CBS affiliate KPHO reported that some jurors were crying as they left the courtroom late Thursday after being unable to determine a sentence, including mouthing the words "I'm so sorry.""
The panel began deliberating Arias' fate late Tuesday afternoon. Around noon Wednesday, the panel announced that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict, but a judge ordered them to continue deliberations.
Arias said publicly after her conviction that she would rather die than spend the rest of her life in prison. But appealing to the jury Tuesday, she reversed her request, asking for life in prison for the sake of her family."Either way, I'm going to spend the rest of my life in prison, whether it will be shortened or not," Arias said. "If it's shortened, the people who will hurt the most are my family. I'm asking you please, don't do that to them."
Arias said she didn't intend to cause pain to the Alexander family and called Travis Alexander's death "the worst mistake of my life."
Prosecutor Juan Martinez countered the defense's plea for life in prison, arguing that death, though a difficult choice, was the only appropriate sentence.
Complete coverage of the Jodi Arias trial on Crimesider
