AFTER forty-nine witnesses over thirteen days, the three-man, nine-woman jury received the case that same day at four P.M. on February 17, 2014. They deliberated for seventy-five minutes before adjourning. They were behind closed doors for another six hours a day on Tuesday and Wednesday. They requested Laura’s diary and notebooks and the letter in which she purportedly relinquished custody in exchange for twenty-five thousand dollars. They also asked for the reciprocating saw that law enforcement purchased for scientific analysis of the tool markings and for dramatic demonstration during trial. Judge Stephens allowed them to view it in the courtroom from the jury box but would not allow it to be turned on, since neither side had done so during the trial.
Late in the afternoon of Wednesday, July 19, the jury announced they had reached a decision. They filed back into the courtroom. Foreperson Timothy Mock handed over the documentation.
Judge Donald Stephens read the verdict: guilty of second degree murder.
Afterward, jurors said that, at one point, there were nine people in favor of first degree murder, two who wanted acquittal and one who was undecided. All of them agreed, though, that they didn’t want a hung jury and worked out their compromise. They said they were all willing to do so because not a single one of them believed Amanda’s story that she didn’t know Laura was killed and cut up until after they arrived in Texas.
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DEFENSE attorney Rosemary Godwin stood before the judge to plead for his leniency. “Except for her relationship with Mr. Hayes, it is extraordinarily unlikely that Mrs. Hayes would have found herself in a courtroom of any kind.” She continued talking about duress and coercion, mental and emotional abuse, and Amanda’s upright character. “If Mr. Hayes had met Mrs. Hayes first and Ms. Ackerson second, it could very well be that Mrs. Hayes would be the victim in this case.”
The judge appeared offended by that final suggestion. “But that would require Ms. Ackerson to participate in the killing of Amanda Hayes. My problem here is that I personally believe, with regard to the evidence, it is quite possible or likely that Amanda Hayes could have saved the life of Laura Ackerson and she chose not to. She chose instead to participate in her killing. Advise your client of her right to speak.”
Amanda had something to say and she delivered it in the tiniest, sweetest voice she could muster. “Your honor, I would just like to apologize with my whole heart, being, soul. First to Laura. I apologize to her, to her family, to her children; to my family, to Grant’s family, to everyone who had to work this case, to everyone who had to sit through this trial, to everyone in the media who had to watch this and, in fact, have it touch their lives. I am so sorry that this touched my life in any shape, form or fashion or anyone I love or care about or anyone. And I am truly, truly sorry with every ounce of my soul.” She nodded her head as her lower lip quivered and lowered herself back into her chair.
The judge asked her to stand up. “Having pled not guilty to this charge of murder in the first degree, the jury having heard the evidence and returned a unanimous verdict of murder in the second degree, the state having prayed judgment, the defendant having no prior record . . . therefore, for a Class B felony, at the top of the presumptive range, can be sentenced by the court to a minimum term of one hundred fifty-seven months in the North Carolina Department of Corrections and a maximum term of one hundred ninety-eight months. This is an active prison sentence, give her credit for time served in jail awaiting charges. She is in custody of the sheriff.” She definitely fared far better than Grant, who would be behind bars for the rest of his natural life.
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THE next month, Patricia Barakat’s tale of the preferential treatment Amanda had received came home to roost for the Wake County Detention Center. An internal investigation concluded that Lieutenant Linda Hicks violated the fraternization policy prohibiting guards from having any kind of relationship with inmates outside the performance of their assigned duties. According to WRAL, several of their sources alleged that there were telephone recordings of romantic and sexual conversations between Lieutenant Hicks and Amanda Hayes. Hicks resigned on March 3. Five additional officers were also fired on March 7 for similar behavior with other inmates.
In April 2014, Amanda Hayes learned her legal tribulations were not over. A grand jury in Texas indicted her on a second degree felony for tampering with physical evidence in the state. If convicted of the offense relating to the dumping of Laura’s remains in the creek, the sentence could range from two to twenty years in Texas on top of the time she is now serving.
On August 21, 2014, Amanda filed for divorce from Grant. Her petition was finalized that October.
Grant Hayes’s appeals attorney filed a brief requesting a new trial on August 29, 2014. It claimed prejudicial and unfair evidence, testimony and actions in the court. They cited, among other items, the admission of the lyrics to “Man Killer,” Ginger Calloway’s custody evaluation, the testimony of Pablo Trinidad, the reading of the defendant’s e-mails during trial and the judge’s ruling that exhibits had to be viewed by the jury in the courtroom.
The state responded with a denial of any abuse of discretion by the trial court and then argued the grounds for inclusion of all evidence the defense team regarded as prejudicial. They contended that some of the points raised regarded testimony and exhibits that had been presented to show motive and ill will toward the victim, not to prove the truth of the charges against him. The higher court rejected his arguments and refused to hear them in a second appeal. Grant Hayes remains behind bars without hope of release.
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SHA Elmer continued to work on rebuilding her life in New Mexico, the state of her birth. Little Grant, Gentle and Lily were being raised by their grandparents Grant and Patsy Hayes. Sha and the Hayes family all have an agreement that if something would happen to prevent the grandparents from caring for the kids any longer, it would be ideal if they could still remain together. Sha planned to travel east every summer for the children’s big combined birthday party—since the siblings were born in May, June and August—and is committed to, at minimum, ensuring that little Grant, Gentle and Lily are together every year for their annual birthday celebration.
According to Sha, “All the children are healthy and doing well.” She talked to four-year-old Lily on the phone every week, and said she’d reached a place where she felt that “it’s the best possible solution that all three kids are together with Patsy and Grant II. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Patsy and Grant Hayes face years of parenting with a formidable burden waiting in the future. They will, one day, have to be totally honest with little Grant, Gentle and Lily about the dark side of their childhood. But how will they possibly explain that one parent is dead and the other two are in prison for taking that young mother’s life?