GRIFFIN, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia man has been convicted of murder in the 2012 slaying of a 9-year-old girl who was his neighbor.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (http://on-ajc.com/1DmRZqS ) a Spalding County jury Thursday convicted Shane Clifton Collett of malice murder and felony murder in the death of young Skylar Jade Dials.
The fourth-grader went missing just a few days before Christmas in 2012 after she left home to walk to a nearby friend's house in the small Williamson community. Collett was among the neighbors who helped police search for the missing girl until her body was found hours later behind a pile of logging debris.
Collett was charged with the slaying soon after the body was found. The murder charges against him carried a life sentence.
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Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com
