Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, 35, was sentenced on Friday to 90 years in jail and a $10,000 fantastic for the homicide of Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson.
A jury of her friends in Travis County delivered a responsible verdict on Thursday within the nine-day trial on the Blackwell-Thurman Prison Justice Heart in Austin, Texas.
Attorneys offered witnesses within the penalty section, which started late Thursday afternoon instantly after the jury took lower than three hours to deliberate and return a responsible verdict for homicide. Armstrong had pled not responsible to first-degree homicide costs.
Earlier than abbreviated closing arguments on Friday, jurors heard from Wilson’s dad and mom and brother, after which the daddy and sister of Armstrong. The jury thought-about a termed sentence of 5 to 99 years or life in jail with no parole. The decision was learn at roughly 2:30 p.m. CT with confinement for 90 years, with eligibility for parole after half of the sentence is served.
Protection of the proceedings was permitted within the courtroom for opening statements, closing arguments, and the decision, which Courtroom TV known as the ‘Love Triangle Homicide Trial’.
Prosecutor Rickey Jones made the State’s closing assertion, and he replayed a recording from a Ring doorbell digital camera that was a part of the proof offered in the course of the nine-day trial, noting “the very last thing Mo Wilson did on this earth, on Could 11, 2022, at 9:15 p.m. was scream in terror.”
That recording from the digital camera, which was positioned exterior the residence the place Wilson was staying in Austin, was performed for jurors and the audio resonated with screams from a feminine and the sound of two obvious gunshots.
After a pause, an obvious third gunshot was heard on the recording. Prosecutor Rickey Jones stated the primary two pictures struck Wilson within the head and had been deadly, whereas the third bullet was fired into her coronary heart.
Defence attorneys said that not all proof was examined for DNA and there was not an intensive investigation about different attainable suspects, in keeping with experiences in The Austin American-Stateman.
Wilson, a highly-successful gravel racer, had gained the opening spherical of the Life Time Grand Prix’s Sea Otter Traditional Fuego MTB 80K in April 2022 and 4 different early-season gravel races. She was in Austin for the Gravel Locos race, forward of a defence of her title at Unbound Gravel, and was discovered fatally shot in a buddy’s residence in Austin, Texas on Could 11, 2022.
After a six-day inquiry, police issued an arrest warrant on Could 17, 2022 for Armstrong, who fled the nation utilizing her sister’s passport, flying to Costa Rica. She was apprehended 43 days later and introduced into custody.
Armstrong’s trial started on November 1, 2023, with the State offering eight days of testimony from witnesses together with Armstrong’s boyfriend Colin Strickland, who was the final particular person to see Wilson alive. Wilson and Strickland had a quick romantic relationship throughout a breakup between Armstrong and Strickland in 2021, and a number of witnesses testified to Armstrong being jealous of Wilson.
Armstrong subsequent faces a separate felony cost of making an attempt to flee from custody, inflicting bodily damage, for a failed escape final month. If convicted, she faces a further 20 years in jail.
Wilson’s household issued an announcement after the decision on Thursday, calling the previous 12 months and a half a ”unhappy story”.
“As a household, we imagine justice has been served, and naturally we’ve many individuals to thank, however first I wish to thank God for giving us energy, consolation and a measure of peace via this trial course of. We all know many people again residence and across the nation have been praying for us and we respect that very a lot.”
The assertion then thanked many people, together with attorneys and public security officers, earlier than noting that the end result had “no winners”.
“Aside from the prosecution staff, there actually are not any winners right here. This unhappy story is an ideal instance of why integrity and honesty are essential in our private relationships, and the way dishonesty can usually result in unintended penalties. Egocentric manipulation, jealousy and hatred by no means result in good outcomes. Violence isn’t a great way to unravel private points, the truth is, violence doesn’t resolve something however solely results in extra struggling.”
