Woman agrees to life term for not making appeal

A woman convicted of setting a house fire that two years ago killed three children has agreed to spend the rest of her life in prison in return for not appealing her conviction.

Zakeeyah Harper was eligible for execution after being convicted of three counts of first-degree murder on Wednesday, but prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.

Harper, upset that her boyfriend had left her for another woman, firebombed the woman's house on the 1800 block of East Clementine Street in the middle of the night on May 14, 2005. Firefighters quickly extinguished the 4 a.m. fire in the Kensington rowhouse, but the flames, which started on a first-floor sofa, had swept through the home so quickly that Mahogany Porter, 7; Shaune Porter, 5; and Sharonda Porter, 4, were killed.

Defense attorney Fred Harrison said Harper "expressed her condolences to the family and that she's sorry about what happened." - AP