Garrard convicted, jury to determine fate today

An Etowah County Jury returns today to begin deciding the fate of an  Etowah County grandmother after convicting her of Capital murder Friday after three hours of deliberations for killing her granddaughter by forcing her to run .

While the verdict was being read friday, Joyce Garrard held the hands of her attorneys and showed little emotion. Several of her family members attended the reading and were visibly upset.

Garrard's attorney Dani Bone made a tearful plea to the jury during part of the closing arguments saying there's no way his client would have known that 9-year-old Savannah would of died. He also said the prosecution didn't prove a motive and that this is not a murder case.

During the prosecution's closing arguments Marcus Reid said there's no reason Savannah should be dead. He said Garrard set out to teach Savannah a lesson by making her run and carry wood for an extended period of time. Reid even held a picture of her arm that had cuts and bruises from carrying the wood.

Reid said the proof of intent in the case is in the duration and brutality of making Savannah run non-stop while holding the wood. He said Garrard knew it would cause harm to the child.

Garrard was charged with capital murder because Savannah was under 14 years old.

The jury also considered three lesser charges of felony murder, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.  Today the jury will decide if Garrard will be sentenced to life in prison without parole or wheather she will become the 4th woman on Alabamas death row.