Shawna Forde

Shawna Forde

On Monday, February 14, 2011, after roughly seven hours of deliberation over two days, the jury returned its verdict. The 11 women and one man composing the jury found Shawna Forde guilty of two counts of first-degree felony murder, and also convicted her of attempted first-degree murder (for the shooting of Gina Gonzalez), two counts of aggravated assault, and on counts of burglary, armed robbery, and aggravated robbery.

After the verdict, Forde gave a jailhouse interview to Terry Greene Sterling of The Daily Beast in which she called the verdict "surreal," maintaining her innocence. "I wish I could say I was sorry it happened, Forde told Sterling, "I am not sorry on my behalf because I didn't do it."

The day after the verdict, the court reconvened to begin the penalty phase in which prosecutors would attempt to convince the jury that Forde's crimes merited the ultimate sentence: death.