John "Jordan" Lewis - the baby-faced high school dropout whose six-week career as an armed robber ended with the Halloween 2007 slaying of Police Officer Chuck Cassidy - was sentenced to death today by a Philadelphia jury.

The Common Pleas Court jury of eight women and four men deliberated for less than an hour over lunch before deciding that Lewis, 23, should be killed by lethal injection.

"Death," the jury forewoman announced without hesitation.

Lewis, a chubby six-footer in jeans and a green sweater who wore thick, oversize black-frame glasses, did not show any emotion as the sentence was announced and repeated 11 times, as each juror intoned "Death."

Lewis' mother, Lynn Dyches, 39, a city correctional officer, immediately began to sob quietly and slumped into the lap of a male companion, inconsolable about her only son's fate.

About 10 feet away, Cassidy's widow, Judy, and their three children and other relatives huddled together.

After the jury was excused and left the room, Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart announced that he wanted to immediately proceed with the formal sentencing.

Though almost anticlimactic, the 15-minute sentencing hearing featured one more impact statement from Judy Cassidy.

"There are no winners today - we are all losers here," Cassidy said, looking at Lewis from the witness stand. "The only reason we are here today is because of your actions. You're the one. You brought your family here, and you are the one who brought my family here."

Cassidy seemed barely able to contain her anger.

"I refer to you at home as the asshole," Cassidy said, telling Lewis she had come up with far worse names.

She said she did not believe Lewis was remorseful: "You knew exactly what you were doing. You made the choice to drop out of school. You made the choice not to get a job. You chose to look my husband in the eye and assassinate him."

Lewis, who was consistently unpredictable during the eight-day trial, remained so today, making a composed and articulate three-minute statement before the judge sentenced him.

Saying that he did not feel anyone believed him, Lewis said: "I really don't know what to say to anyone here. I take this sentence with honor for Chuck, for my family, and for the choices I made."

During the first day of the trial on Nov. 12, Lewis pleaded guilty to a general charge of murder and six armed robberies, leaving to the jury the tasks of deciding the degree of murder and whether he should live or die.

He had an emotional outburst during the trial, calling out, "I love you too, man," to a cousin forced to testify against him after being charged with helping Lewis elude police for three days.

And he shouted, "I apologize, Mrs. Cassidy," as the officer's widow left the stand last Wednesday as the prosecution's final witness.

As his distraught family sat behind him, Lewis calmly apologized today and said he was ready to take responsibility for killing Cassidy, 54, during the robbery of a Dunkin' Donuts store at 6620 N. Broad St. in West Oak Lane.

"You don't know the nights I cried in jail, and during the last moments I was with my family," Lewis said.

The judge's voice cracked several times as he sentenced Lewis. Minehart, 62, a former probation officer, prosecutor, and defense lawyer, praised Judy Cassidy's eloquence and the police work of her husband of 26 years, a 25-year veteran of the police force.