A Texas jury took less than an hour on Thursday to find a woman guilty of murdering a homeless man she struck with her car and left to die stuck in the windshield.
Chante Mallard, testifying later during the trial's punishment phase, tearfully apologized for the crime and blamed it on drugs.
The 27-year-old former nurse's aide could face life in prison for killing Gregg Biggs, 37.
More testimony was scheduled for yesterday, after which the jury was to determine Mallard's punishment. In addition to her murder conviction, she pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence, which has a maximum punishment of 10 years.
Mallard hit Biggs after a night of drinking and drug use, then drove the nearly 3.2km home with him stuck in the windshield, his body hanging down into the car and his legs sprawled on the hood.
Prosecutors said she left Biggs to slowly die in her darkened garage over the next few hours while she plotted with friends on how to dispose of the body.
Mallard said she was afraid of getting arrested, but said the ecstasy, marijuana and booze she had that night while out with friends addled her thoughts.
"Drugs, they have destroyed my life," she said.
She described the moment of impact when glass came flying into the car and suddenly there was a man hanging into her car through the windshield.
"I had never seen no one like that before," she said. "I was scared and I didn't know what to do."
Addressing Biggs' son Brandon, who testified earlier in the trial, Mallard said: "I am so sorry, Brandon. I am so sorry for what I have caused your family and I am sorry for the pain that I have put my family through."
Medical experts said Biggs bled to death from a nearly amputated left leg. He also suffered a fractured arm and two fractures to his right leg, as well as numerous abrasions.
Prosecutor Christy Jack said in her closing arguments that when Mallard drove with Biggs wedged in her car and decided to shut her garage door instead of calling for help, she guaranteed his death.
"Every breath he drew was more painful than the last. Merely inches away was a woman who held his life in the palm of her hand," Jack said.
Jack said Mallard knew Biggs was alive in her car when she shut her garage door and started calling her friends, and every decision made after that time was done with the intent of trying to get away with the crime and not seeking to help him.
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