NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A Connecticut jury was deliberating for a second day on whether a man convicted of killing a woman and her two daughters in a brutal home invasion should get the death penalty or life in prison.

The jury deliberated less than two hours Monday afternoon without reaching a verdict in the sentencing phase of Joshua Komisarjevsky’s trial in New Haven Superior Court. They continued their discussions Tuesday.

Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes were convicted of killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and daughters, Hayley and Michaela, at their Cheshire home in 2007. Hayes is on death row.

“It’s just a long wait. It’s a hard wait,” said William Petit Sr., whose granddaughters and daughter-in-law were killed. “By the same token, we know it’s very close to being over.”

Defense attorneys say Komisarjevsky should not be condemned to death because was sexually abused as a child by his foster brother and never got proper psychological help. Prosecutors cite the heinous and cruel nature of the crime.