Guilty in 33 minutes

A Clarke County jury deliberated 33 minutes before finding Tasha Nicole Merrick guilty of interference with custody following a three-day trial. Merrick was charged following the disappearance of then 14-year-old Leah McDonald on Mother’s Day 2023. On May 14, 2023, McDonald told her grandfather that she was going to the park to play basketball and left on her bicycle. When her grandfather went to the park to check on her 15 minutes later, she was gone, according to state’s evidence presented at trial. Her grandfather contacted the Jackson Police Department, which initiated a nationwide search involving the National Center for Missing...

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