HOUSTON -- Jurors are expected to begin deliberating the punishment for a convicted cop killer Thursday, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Alfred Dewayne Brown, 23, was found guilty of capital murder Tuesday in the April 3, 2003, slaying of officer Charles R. Clark, 45, at a check-cashing store.

The punishment phase of the trial began Wednesday. Brown could be sentenced to death by lethal injection or life in prison. Final arguments are expected Thursday morning.

Brown did not react when the guilty verdict was read but Clark's family hugged and cried inside the courtroom. Attorneys and relatives declined to comment on the verdict, saying they would make statements after the punishment phase of the trial was over.

Prosecutors said Brown shot Clark in the head as the patrolman tried to stop a holdup at an Ace America's Cash Express on Loop 610 South in southeast Houston.

Store clerk Alfredia Jones, 27, was also killed.

Clark was killed the day before his 20th anniversary and within weeks of his scheduled retirement with HPD, and Jones had returned to work from maternity leave the day of the shooting.

Brown is the second man to stand trial in the incident.

Elijah Dwayne Joubert, 26, was convicted last year of capital murder for Jones' slaying and sentenced to death.

Dashan V. Glaspie, 23, has pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery in a deal limiting his sentence to 30 years if he testifies truthfully against his cohorts, prosecutors said.

Clark's pistol jammed after he fired one shot. Prosecutors said Brown fired both shots that hit Clark -- one grazed his shoulder and the other struck his head at close range.