Father’s murder conviction upheld

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday upheld the murder conviction against Rodney Reaves for the 2003 beating death of his 11-year-old daughter Joella.

Before Joella’s death, Reaves and his wife, Charlott, who also was convicted of murder, left the girl in their garage for hours at a time. Joella died of kidney failure caused by severe trauma to her body, and police found a baseball bat and broken umbrella in the Reaves’ home matching the patterns of the girl’s injuries, the ruling said.