A Dallas woman was convicted Friday in the dehydration death of her 10-year-old stepson who was denied water for days during record-high temperatures in North Texas.
Jurors deliberated more than two hours before finding Tina Marie Alberson, 44, guilty of reckless injury to a child, a second-degree felony, in the July 2011 death of Jonathan James.
Alberson faces up to life in prison because of a previous felony conviction.
Testimony in the punishment phase of her trial began Friday afternoon, but jurors went home after deliberating for about an hour without reaching a decision about her sentence.
The jury will resume deliberations Tuesday.
Police thought Jonathan's death was heat-related until the medical examiner's report.
Alberson had testified in her own defense.
She told jurors she limited Jonathan's water intake only a few times as punishment for misbehaving, and that she saw him drinking water when he wasn't in 'time-out.'
According to testimony, the boy was punished for stealing his step-brother's guitar strings, sneaking water and food when he wasn't supposed to have it and wetting the bed, prosecutors say.
Joseph James told jurors he was concerned for his brother's health but was too afraid of Alberson to do anything.
After her stepson died, Alberson was charged with injury to a child with serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony in which someone knowingly or recklessly causes harm that creates a substantial risk of death.
It carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
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TXT 24
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