A jury found a man guilty of killing a Montgomery County infant and her grandmother during a botched kidnapping plot.
The jury found Raghunandan Yandamuri guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 10-month-old Saanvi Venna and her grandmother 61-year-old Satyavathi Venna. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts including the two counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping, burglary, robbery and abuse of a corpse.
"It's fair to say that he was stunned, he thought that he was going to have a different verdict," said attorney Henry Hilles who will represent Yandamuri through the sentencing phase. "Whether or not that seems plausible to court observers is debatable.
"His defense all along was that he didn't do it."
Yandamuri represented himself during the criminal trial.
The penalty phase began shortly after the verdict was read around 5:15 p.m. Thursday. Yandamuri could get the death penalty.
On Thursday, the jury heard from the Yandamuri's mother since she was set to return to India the next day. Yandamuri's mother pleaded to have her son's life spared.
Earlier in the day, jurors were told to begin deliberations all over again because one juror was replaced with an alternate who wasn't part of their original deliberations.
The penalty phase will continue Friday.
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Prosecutors alleged that Yandamuri kidnapped Saanvi from her family's King of Prussia apartment in October 2012 and killed the baby's grandmother. The girl was later found dead. Yandamuri said two other men killed the victims.
Prosecutors argued Yandamuri hatched the plot to pay for a gambling habit. Evidence against him included DNA that tied him to the killing and a confession that police say led to the child's body.
He argued he was pressured into confessing and that two other men forced him at gunpoint to help.
