SAN DIEGO – Jurors in a trial involving Nathaniel Gann, a young man accused of fatally shooting his stepfather, announced Wednesday that they were unable to reach a verdict in the case, but a judge asked them to resume deliberations.

The jury foreman said in court that the jury reviewed all the evidence, but could not reach a unanimous decision. He said the panel had taken two votes, but did not reveal whether the majority of jurors leaned toward conviction or acquittal.

So far, the panel has deliberated for about a day.

Over a defense attorney's objection, Superior Court Judge Frederic Link read the jurors a brief instruction, then sent them back to the jury room to continue deliberations.

Link said the jury will be ordered to return to court Thursday morning, and “we will see what will happen then.”

Deliberations began Tuesday afternoon to determine whether Gann, 20, is guilty of murder and special allegations of lying in wait in his stepfather's death.

Authorities said Gann fired four shots – including a fatal shot to the back of Timothy MacNeil's head.

MacNeil, a 63-year-old attorney, died in the assault on July 19, 2007.

Gann's defense attorney, Ricardo Garcia of the Alternate Public Defender's Office, said Gann's sister, Brae Hansen, was the mastermind and sole suspect behind the crime.

Hansen, who is accused of pretending to be a victim during the fake robbery, is set go to trial in January.

Police went to MacNeil's home after receiving Hansen's 911 call and found her with her hands zip-tied behind her back and MacNeil dead on the floor.

She gave detectives several statements that police said didn't add up. She was arrested later that day.

Prosecutors have agreed not to seek the death penalty in the siblings' cases.

Garcia has said Gann and his sister are the victims of emotional and physical abuse at the hands of their mother, who committed suicide in 2005. Police have said the pair planned the killing to gain inheritance money.

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