GADSDEN, Ala. – A judge is deciding whether to sentence an Alabama woman to life or death in the running death of her 9-year-old granddaughter.
Circuit Judge Billy Ogletree has scheduled a sentencing hearing for Monday in Gadsden for 50-year-old Joyce Hardin Garrard.
Jurors convicted Garrard of capital murder in March. They recommended a sentence of life without parole for the death of Savannah Hardin in February 2012.
Prosecutors have said they're satisfied with the jury's suggestion. But the recommendation came on a 7-5 vote, and Ogletree could still sentence the woman to death by lethal injection.
Garrard was convicted of killing the girl by making her run for hours as punishment for a lie about candy.
Garrard had told jurors she didn't mean to harm the child.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
