A Paulding County jury has convicted Michael Ledford in the 2006 slaying of cyclist Jennifer Ewing on the popular Silver Comet Trail. After four and a half days of testimony, the 10 men and two women took less than two hours Monday to find Ledford guilty of sexually assaulting and brutally beating the 53-year-old Sandy Springs woman to death.
Ledford, 46, now faces a second trial to set his punishment: death, life without parole or life with the possibility of parole
He was accused of 10 violent felonies, including one count of malice murder, two counts of felony murder linked to the aggravated battery and kidnapping charges, aggravated sodomy and aggravated assault.
According to testimony, Ledford, 46, darted from some woods in a remote area along the trail, as Ewing completed 32 miles of her regular 50-mile ride and ambushed the cyclist. Ledford allegedly dragged Ewing about 70 feet off the path, where he tried to force her to perform oral sex on him.
She bit him instead, and Ledford reacted by savagely beating the Sandy Springs woman, prosecutors say.
The autopsy showed her nose and larynx were crushed, her body was covered with bruises, nine ribs were broken and her chest crushed, causing her to smother.
Ledford punched or stomped his victim dozens of times, too many to count, and it took her 20 to 30 minutes to die, said Dr. Kris Sperry, the state medical examiner.
"This was a violent, violent way to die," Paulding County District Attorney Drew Lane said in his closing argument Monday. "This was a vicious, violent, savage beating by [Ledford] against this poor lady."
With closing arguments over, the jurors were left with images of some of the crime scene photos of Ledford's injured and bleeding penis and of Ewing's scarred nude body found the next morning, discarded on a mound of kudzu.
One of Ledford's attorneys, Jimmy Berry, said the defense team did not dispute the savagery of Ewing's death and the emotional pain her family feels.
"Our hearts go out to this family," Berry said. "It's a horrible thing to have to go through this trial."
But he questioned the care law enforcement officers took in collecting evidence to support the charges that would bring a death sentence.
Berry's closing statement focused on tests law enforcement didn't do: sample Ledford's hair, scrape underneath Ewing's fingernails for evidence, examine Ledford's body for scratches and scrapes "indicative of a fight."
He questioned breaks in the chain of custody of some evidence and some problems with a DNA test and a fingerprint examination.
"This case is not only about who did it but where, why and how," Berry said. "The state has concentrated on who [committed the crime] but forgot about the rest."
Prosecutors countered, however, that the jury had all the proof it needed to convict Ledford, who has already served 10 years in prison for a 1991 rape.
Lane said Ewing "was able to fight, able to bite" and that left enough evidence for law enforcement officers to find her killer.
"Jennifer Ewing fought him every step of the way," Lane told jurors. "She wanted you to know Michael William Ledford is 10 times guilty."
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