Jury considers death penalty against woman for stepdaughter's murder

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - A Gwinnett County jury will resume its deliberations on Tuesday morning as they consider whether or not to recommend a death sentence against a woman convicted of murdering her stepdaughter.

The jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts Monday afternoon against Tiffany Moss for the 2013 murder of her 10-year-old stepdaughter Emani Moss.

The sentencing phase of the capital murder trial began immediately after the verdicts were read Monday afternoon.

With the conviction, Moss could face the death penalty for the 2013 murder of the girl.

Prosecutors charged the mother of her own two children and her husband, Eman Moss, of starving Emani to death, then dousing her body with an accelerant and setting it on fire outside of their Gwinnett County apartment in 2013.

A prosecutor brought at least three jurors to tears in closing arguments Monday morning by saying “Emani Moss lived with the evils of this world.”

MORE: State rests case against Tiffany Moss in murder trial

Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Lisa Jones told jurors Emani ran away and would sleep outside alone in the dark in bushes rather than be in the apartment with Tiffany Moss.

“That child was nothing to her [Tiffany]. In this case, it was intent, day after day after day,” Jones said.

“Emani died in that room, in her own filth and waste, by herself while this defendant watched TV and cooked lasagna,” she said.

Jones also talked about how Moss and her husband burned the girl’s body.

“They set her on fire and turned their backs because they couldn’t watch what they did to this child,” Jones said.

Moss, who represented herself during her trial, gave no closing arguments to jurors.

During the trial, Eman Moss testified for the prosecution. He is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty in 2015 for his role in his daughter’s death.

“Eman is no hero, but he finally had a conscience,” the prosecutor told jurors.

In talking about the young girl, Jones said: “She was disposable, she was a pain, she was a nuisance, she was nothing to this defendant.”

Late Monday morning, Chief Superior Court Judge George Hutchinson denied a motion from outside counsel to represent Moss at the sentencing phase of the trial.

Shortly after 5:30 p.m., Judge Hutchinson granted the request of the jury to stop for the day and resume their consideration of the death penalty at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

RELATED: Father of murdered child takes stand in Tiffany Moss trial