The jury concludes the murder trial of a man accused of setting fire to his home with his young son

The murder trial of Nicholas Ecker, a Prairie Village man accused of setting fire to his ex-girlfriend's home with their 17-month-old son in 2022, ended Tuesday with a jury verdict.

Nicholas Adam Ecker, now 31, was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated arson in the death of his son. Prosecutors allege he intentionally burned down his ex-partner Karlie Phelps' Shawnee home, killing her 17-month-old son, who prosecutors say he knew was in the house.

Prosecutors later also charged Ecker with possession of a firearm by a felon. He pleaded not guilty to all three charges, according to court records.

In a trial that ended Tuesday, Johnson County jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision on whether Ecker was guilty of the first two charges. Court records show the jury found Ecker guilty on the weapons charge.

The fatal fire occurred at approximately 12:50 a.m. on February 13, 2022, at the Phelps family home on W. 69th Terrace in Shawnee. According to court documents, Phelps left the toddler at home alone most nights to visit a friend in Wyandotte County and returned to find the house on fire.

According to court documents, footage captured by Phelps' Ring camera showed Ecker arrive at the house and set it on fire.

An autopsy showed the child was still alive when the fire broke out and suffered severe burns, according to court documents.

Others were in the house during the fire but were able to escape unharmed. Phelps and her two other children, Ivan and Angelina, lost everything they owned in the fire, according to a fundraiser posted by family members.

According to court documents, Ecker showed up at the house 20 minutes after the alleged arson, even though emergency responders had not yet contacted him.

Investigators also reviewed cellphone records from phones belonging to both Ecker and Phelps, according to court documents. During Ecker's trial, prosecutors presented text messages in which Ecker questioned Phelps about her whereabouts just hours before the fire, accused her of lying, threatening self-harm and sending her photos allegedly taken at the home on W. 69th Terrace had been taken.

Ecker has been held in the Johnson County Detention Center on $1 million bail since the fire.

Phelps pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and endangering a child in August 2022. She was initially sentenced to 19 years in prison, but a judge in Johnson County opted to sentence her to three years probation instead, The Star reported.

The jury must decide unanimously whether the defendant is guilty of a charge or not. If not, the jury is undecided.

According to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, vacated juries, also known as deadlocked juries, typically result in a retrial.

Ecker was charged with domestic violence in two separate incidents, one that occurred a week before the fire, The Star previously reported.

According to court documents, Phelps filed for a restraining order against Ecker in early 2022.

A hearing to determine next steps in the case against Ecker is scheduled for 8:45 a.m. Oct. 16 in Johnson County Court.

Previous reporting by Zach Murdock, Bill Lukitsch, Breanna Palmer and Anna Spoerre contributed to this article.