MASON COUNTY (WKZO-AM) The verdict is in after jury deliberations went into overtime in the Baby Kate murder trial, and while elongated deliberations are usually good news for the defense, not in this case.
They found Sean Phillips guilty of second-degree murder for the death of his 4-month-old daughter in 2011.
Instead of calling it a day at 5 p.m. the jury ordered in pizza, apparently close enough to a decision to want to get it done before the weekend began.
Second-degree murder was the most serious option they had available after Judge Peter Wadel ruled there was not enough evidence of premeditation to justify first degree murder. It could mean a sentence of any number of years up to life with a chance of parole.
Attorney General Bill Schuette says “Today’s conviction is a measure of justice for a child who will never grow up and a family that has been ripped apart by her murder.”
It was Assistant Attorney General Donna Pendergast who actually tried the case and got the verdict, despite the fact that there was never a body found in the case. Such trials are unusual and difficult to win for prosecutors.
Whatever new sentence the 25-year-old Phillips receives next month will be served concurrently with the 6-years he has yet to serve for unlawfully imprisoning the infant.
