A Cobb County jury has found an Austell mother guilty of poisoning her disabled toddler and taking out credit cards in his name.
Erica White was found guilty as indicted — on 16 counts that range from malice murder to financial fraud — on Monday, said Kim Isaza, spokeswoman for the Cobb district attorney’s office.
Prosecutors argued that the boy, Tyrael McFall, died after being poisoned with Tylenol No. 3, which contains codeine. A GBI toxicologist testified that the amount in Tyrael’s system was toxic but not necessarily fatal.
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Credit: Cobb County District Attorney's Office
Credit: Cobb County District Attorney's Office
Tyrael was left "without a chance" many people said throughout the trial, which began Jan. 22.
The boy was blinded and left unable to walk after his father Joseph McFall shook him, threw him, cracked both his arms and a rib when the boy was eight weeks old. Joseph McFall was sentenced to 20 years in prison in April 2014.
White was originally indicted with her boyfriend at the time, Michael Schullerman, but about two months ago he pleaded guilty to about a dozen charges — not the murder counts — and was sentenced to 20 years in prison on a racketeering charge.
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White was also found guilty of that racketeering count for a scheme that, in part, involved not telling Social Security that the boy had died in order to continue getting benefits.
Though she showed emotion during the opening statements and closing arguments in the case, White did not testify on her own behalf.
The jury began deliberating the case on Thursday.
Isaza said White’s sentencing date has not yet been set.
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