GADSDEN, Ala. – Jurors have reached a verdict on a sentence for an Alabama woman convicted of capital murder in her granddaughter's running death.
Court officials were waiting for the verdict to be announced after jurors said they had reached a decision.
The decision came Thursday on the defendant Joyce Hardin Garrard's 50th birthday.
The same jury convicted Garrard of capital murder last week in the February 2012 death of 9-year-old Savannah Hardin.
Prosecutors told jurors the woman deserved to die for making the girl run for hours as punishment for a lie about candy. The child collapsed and died later in a hospital.
The defense asked for mercy, arguing that Savannah loved Garrard and wouldn't want her put to death.
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