ROCKDALE FOSTER MOM FOUND GUILTY

  

The Rockdale foster mother charged with the July 2013 murder of Alexandria Hill was found guilty of capital murder of her two year old foster daughter.

Closing statements were heard Tuesday morning in the 20th District Court in Cameron, where Judge John Youngblood charged the jury with finding a verdict on three possible charges -- capital murder, criminally negligent homicide and serious injury to a child

The jury found Sherill Small guilty of capital murder Tuesday afternoon.

55-year old Small was immediately sentenced to life in prison without parole by Judge John Youngblood. Small's daughter, Amber Forester, cried and ran out of the courtroom when the verdict was announced.

District Attorney Bill Torrey said he was confident that the jury would convict because "the evidence in this case was overwhelming."

Defense attorney Shawna Roscom said Small's response was one of devastation.

"I believe there is a tragedy any way you look at it," said Roscom, a Bryan-based attorney who assisted Norman Lanford, the court-appointed attorney representing Small.

Roscom said an appeal will follow, though another attorney will handle that process.