Naim Muhammad Found Guilty of Murdering His Two Sons

Sentencing phase of trial to begin at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday

A Dallas County jury has found Naim Muhammad guilty of capital murder for the drowning deaths of his two young sons.

During a taped confession from an interview with investigators that played in court Tuesday, Muhammad confessed to the murders.

On Wednesday, jurors took less than 10 minutes to convict Muhammad of capital murder. The jury is now deciding whether to sentence Muhammad to life in prison or to death.

Prosecutors say Muhammad is a threat to society and that there is no reason he should be allowed to live.

"I don't have to recall the facts of the case because, although it was not filled with blood or gore, it was a horror unimagined," prosecutor Sherre Sweet said.

Muhammad, who has a criminal record spanning 20 years, killed his sons after their mother began dating someone new, prosecutors say.

"It was the ultimate textbook family violence power and control play -- 'If I can't get you to do what I want you to do through violence, I will go to your very heartstrings,'" Sweet said.

His defense attorneys said there is more to the story. Muhammad's attorney, Paul Johnson, admitted that his client is a murderered and even called him deranged. But Muhammad was failed by everyone in his life, including a father who abandoned him and a mother who was living on the streets, he said.

"Even her own kids will tell you, in the early years of their lives, mom had abandoned the family living on the street as a crack-addicted prostitute," Johnson said.

Prosecutors say Muhammad used a brick to force the boys and their mother into his vehicle as she walked the children to school in August 2011.

The mother escaped from the vehicle and tried to find police, but it was too late.

In his confession, Muhammad told investigators that he told the boys, 5-year-old Naim and 3-year-old Elijah, to pretend they were swimming as he held them underwater in a creek.

On the day of the murders, Muhammad also tried to reach the couple's third child, a 1-year-old. That child was not injured.

Following his arrest, Muhammad told detectives he drowned the boys because he was upset at their mother for breaking up with him.

Sentencing testimony could last into next week.

NBC 5's Lindsay Wilcox contributed to this report.

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