THIBODAUX, La. (AP) – A judge has denied a request for a new trial for a Louisiana man convicted of killing a woman and her two daughters in 2012.
    
The Courier reports that David Brown’s defense attorneys had argued that Brown was not mentally equipped to represent himself during the penalty phase of the 2016 trial when he waived his right to counsel.
    
Lafourche Parish District Court Judge John LeBlanc ruled in favor of the state on Thursday, concluding that Brown’s competency had never come into question during the trial.
    
A jury in 2016 decided that Brown should get the death penalty for the first-degree murders of 29-year-old Jacquelin Nieves, 7-year-old Gabriela Nieves and 1-year-old Izabela Nieves. Brown stabbed all three victims, raped Jacquelin and Gabriela, and set the family’s Lockport apartment on fire.