Sowell fights back tears as sister describes his service in - Cleveland 19 News Cleveland, OH

The death penalty phase in the Anthony Sowell trial continued Thursday morning.

First on the stand was Sowell's half-sister Tressa Garrison. She described their brutal upbringing.

At times during Garrison's testimony, Sowell fought back tears. She called him a nice guy and said, "I don't know what happened to him."

She also said he came back from the Marines a changed man. He was meaner and more withdrawn. Garrison said Sowell became an angry man when he mixed alcohol with pot. Anger Garrison witnessed firsthand. 

"He hit this girl that was talking to me 'cause she was talkin' to me real aggressively and Anthony said one time, he was like, leave her alone and she kept on talkin' kept on talkin', next minute all he did was hit her once, she was bleeding all over the place." Garrison testified.

Jurors convicted Sowell of mass murder last month. The 51-year-old was found guilty of murdering eleven women and burying their bodies in and around his Imperial Avenue home in Cleveland.

The same jury that convicted Sowell must now decide whether he spends the rest of his life behind bars or is sent to death row.

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