Death penalty to be pursued in Springfield triple killing

(AP) Greene County prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty for a 24-year-old man accused of killing three people in Springfield.

Prosecutors said at a pre-trial conference Monday that Luis Perez, who authorities believe is in the U.S. illegally, rejected a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for life.

The Springfield News-Leader reports Perez is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the November 2018 deaths of his ex-roommates, Steven Marler and Aaaron Hampton. Prosecutors allege the day after the men were killed, Perez killed 21-year-old Sabrina Starr, who allegedly gave him the gun he used in the other two killings.

Two other people are charged with murder in the case and a fourth person is facing charges of evidence tampering.