LOWELL — After more than 10 hours of deliberations over three days, the jury in the murder trial of the Phan brothers adopted a note early Friday afternoon saying it was deadlocked and asked for guidance from the judge .

“The memo says, ‘We’ve reached a point where we’re not sure we’re going to reach a consensus and could use some advice,'” Judge Kenneth Salinger told the lawyers.

After speaking with the lawyers, Salinger sent a note back to the jury, encouraging them to take their time and continue their deliberations.

To reach that answer, Salinger said the evidence, presented over eight days, included testimony from 41 witnesses and 121 pieces of evidence, amounting to about 33 to 34 hours of trial. He pointed out that the jury had not yet reached the point of being “proper and thorough” in their deliberations.

Friday’s jury request was not unexpected. On Thursday, the first full day of deliberations, the jury of seven women and five men sent a note at the end of the day expressing fatigue and the need to go home to let the deliberations sink in. After Salinger’s response to their impasse on Friday, they sent another note at 3:50 p.m., again asking to go home—a request Salinger granted.

The jury usually deliberates until 4 p.m. and then is dismissed.

The jury is due to reconvene in Middlesex Superior Court at 9 a.m. Monday to continue deliberating the fates of Billy, 33, Billoeum, 32, and Channa Phan, 31. The three Lowell brothers are accused of fatally shooting 22-year-old Tyrone. Phet outside his Lowell home over four years ago.

If the jury remains deadlocked, resulting in a hung jury, Salinger could declare a mistrial, which would mean the trial could be retried at a later date.

Deliberations began Wednesday afternoon following compelling closing statements by Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Daniel Harren, as well as attorneys Rosemary Scapicchio for Channa Phan, James McCall for Billoeum Phan and Steven Rappaport for Billy Phan.

In his roughly 80-minute closing, Harren opened with the same statement he used in his opening on October 30: “Twenty-two minutes. Twenty one shots. Eight who struck and killed 22-year-old Tyrone Phet.”

According to Harren, one of the Phan brothers led the other two to the area of ​​Phet’s home at 50 Spring Ave. in the early morning hours of September 14, 2020. The brother who was driving remained with the vehicle, parked on Arlene Road, while the other two “lay in wait” for 22 minutes on nearby Spring Avenue before opens fire on Phet, a former Chelmsford High football star and father of two.

Shortly after 1 a.m., Phet, clad only in boxers and a bathrobe, was discovered by Lowell Police Officer Jonathan Proulx inside a bullet-riddled blue Honda Civic, unconscious and not breathing. Phet’s pet German shepherd was inside the car, unharmed.

Police determined that 21 shots were fired from two handguns, based on the 10 10mm and 11 .40 caliber casings found at the scene.

Dr. Adebola Yakubu-Owolewa, a medical examiner with the Office of the Chief Legislative Medical Examiner, testified on Tuesday that of the eight bullets that hit Phet, one went through his right arm, entered his chest, traveled through both lungs and through the heart and stuck in his rib cage. Another bullet hit Phet’s head, passed through his brain and exited his skull.

Harren, who prosecuted the case with Assistant Middlesex District Attorneys Thomas Brandt and Yashmeen Desai, told jurors during his closing that while the evidence fails to explain why Phet is dead, the prosecution does not have to establish a motive . Instead, they must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the Phan brothers are responsible for the shooting, a fact he said the evidence clearly establishes.

The prosecution’s case relied heavily on the testimony of their witness, Abdulai Marandawho spent about five hours on the stand on Nov. 7, claiming the Phan brothers orchestrated the shooting.

Maranda, who testified under immunity, said he was best friends with Channa Phan and was invited to join Channa and his brothers’ street gang in 2016.

Maranda testified that just after midnight on September 14, 2020, Channa Phan called him at Billy Phan’s home at 98 Wannalancit St. Maranda said he drove his Infiniti sedan to meet the brothers, saw two guns in the kitchen and received instructions from Billy. Phan to act as a lookout or getaway driver on Middlesex Street.

With the plan in place, Maranda said he drove his car, following the three brothers, who he claimed were in Channa Phan’s SUV.

During the trial, Harren entered into evidence Maranda’s cell phone log and his Infiniti’s “infotainment system” — a central digital system that stores information such as navigation data. The prosecution argued that this evidence supported Maranda’s account of events.

During his closing, Harren again went over the evidence, highlighting Maranda’s cell phone log, which showed a 40-second call from Channa Phan shortly after midnight on September 14, 2020. The infotainment system from Maranda’s Infiniti indicated that he arrived at 98 Wannalancit St. around 12:22 p.m., about 14 minutes after the call. The infotainment system also confirmed his onward journey to Middlesex Street.

Harren also showed a series of surveillance footage to jurors, including a clip from 91 Arlene Road. At approximately 12:45 p.m., the footage shows an SUV pull to the side of the road in the 80 block of Arlene Road and its lights go out. Two figures can be seen exiting the vehicle and walking across the back yard of 85 Arlene Road towards Phet’s home on Spring Avenue.

Although there is no audio in the footage, around the time of the footage, the SUV’s lights come back on. Two people are then seen running back to the SUV in the area of ​​Spring Avenue, jumping into the vehicle and driving away.

Prosecutors said the SUV in the footage is Channa Phan’s 2014 Honda Pilot, which his girlfriend sold at the Lynnway Auto Auction in Billerica days after the shooting. Police later tracked down the vehicle and found it had a blacked-out reverse light, just like the SUV seen on surveillance video.

During closing arguments, all three defense attorneys aggressively challenged Maranda’s credibility, saying he lied to save himself. They argued that Maranda did not know his clients as he claimed, pointing out that he could not name any of their family members or even remember their dates of birth or if they were married.

Scapicchio probed Phet’s background with jurors, reminding them of his history as a known Adderall dealer and his involvement in illegal gambling that had left him with a $4,000 gambling debt, as revealed in during the process.

She also noted that several items were missing from Phet’s apartment, including expensive sneakers, a necklace chain, the Adderall he allegedly sold, and cash. In addition, two open safes were found in the apartment, along with 50 empty credit cards.

“There is no evidence that my client knows Mr. Phet from a hole in the wall,” Scappichio told jurors. “No connection and no reason why he wants to kill Mr. Phet.” A lot of other people wanted to kill him because he was in debt to a lot of people, he was dealing drugs and he was involved in credit card fraud.”

Scapicchio also questioned why investigators made no effort to obtain DNA evidence from the glasses and bottles found in Phet’s apartment or to collect fingerprints from the open safes.

“How do you trust an investigation that doesn’t exist?” Scapicchio said. “How can they find out what’s really going on if they investigate with their eyes? If it gives immunity like lollipops?

McCall also pointed to the absence of physical evidence, a clear motive and any connection between Billoeum Phan, the other two brothers and Phet.

“No one sees (Billoeum Phan) get into a car, no one puts a gun in his hand that night, no video identification and most importantly no physical evidence, no DNA, no fingerprints, no gunshot residue,” McCall told jurors. . “You would think there would be some evidence, some connection. Everything you heard is consistent with (Billoeum Phan) not being guilty.”

Rappaport told jurors that Maranda had been tipped off by investigators about what they believed to be the motivation behind the shooting.

As revealed during the trial, Maranda’s vehicle was impounded and he was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury. In the two days leading up to his grand jury testimony, Maranda spent several hours with the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and Lowell and State police, but no recording of those conversations was made.

“Police had a theory that (the shooting) was related to some kind of gang retaliation,” Rappaport said. “That was their theory. When they put Maranda in front of the grand jury and asked him how you knew that was the reason for the shooting, he said, “because you guys told me.”

Authorities previously claimed that Phet’s killing was due to his status as an “associate,” though not an actual member, of a rival gang. On September 13, 2020, the day before Phet was killed, someone believed to be a rival gang member fired shots into a home at 478 Wilder St., which authorities said was known to have connection to the gang the Phan brothers were on. part of. This evidence was not brought up during the trial.

All three brothers face first-degree murder charges, which carry life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, the jury has the option of convicting them of the lesser charge of second-degree murder, which carries a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

The lesser charge of murder would mean the Phan brothers intentionally killed Phet without premeditation or atrocity or extreme cruelty — two elements of first-degree murder.

During his closing arguments Wednesday, Harren played audio from a surveillance camera in the 400 block of School Street that captured the sound of the shooting. The audio reveals two bursts of gunfire, which Harren said proves extreme atrocity and cruelty.

“Didn’t those first volleys kill him?” Harren said. “Was there a need for a second grouping? Members of the jury, that was excessive.”

The Phan brothers, neither of whom had a license to carry a firearm, are also charged with illegal possession of ammunition.

In addition, Billy Phan faces a charge of intimidation or tampering with a witness for allegedly trying to bribe Maranda. Maranda testified that Billy Phan offered him $100,000 to lie to the grand jury, an attempt the prosecution says he initially pursued before deciding to tell the truth.

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