Jury finds Compton man was sane when he killed his 5-year-old niece

A Los Angeles jury Friday found that a Compton man was sane when he stabbed his 5-year-old niece to death and hid her body in his closet four years ago, prosecutors said.

Jurors deliberated twice over the sanity of Julian Carter, who was found guilty Feb. 24 of second-degree murder in the killing of Mireya Nila McCall, said Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

During the sanity phase of the trial, prosecutors presented a knife, Carter’s bloody clothes and evidence to show that he tried to hide Mireya’s body and attempted to escape police custody.

The girl’s body was discovered wrapped in a trash bag in Carter’s closet, prosecutors said. She had suffered stab wounds to her throat.

Carter is scheduled to be sentenced July 22 in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Compton. He faces 32 years to life in prison.

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