Jury finds Michael Berry guilty of capital murder

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - PENALTY PHASE

Prosecution began the sentencing phase by calling Stevens’ 13-year-old daughter to the stand. She testified about the day she saw her mother murdered.  She said when she saw Berry pull up and block her mother’s SUV she yelled, “It’s Mike, It’s Mike.”

The girl said after her mother was shot, she saw her bleeding and gasping for breath. She said her last words to mother were, “It’s okay, don’t go.”

Stevens’ daughter said she now has nightmares and suffers from anxiety attacks.

The defense is expected to call its first witness to the stand Thursday.

Both prosecution and defense finished up their closing arguments earlier Wednesday.

PROSECUTION CLOSING ARGUMENTS

The Mobile County District Attorney’s Office said Stevens lived the last months of her life trapped by Berry.

The prosecution said in January 2010, Stevens filed for divorce and a filed protection order from Berry after a domestic dispute. Prosecution said between January and May 2010, Berry began harassing Stevens with phone calls, following her around and was breaking the protection order she had against him. 

The prosecution said Stevens became so afraid that two weeks prior to her murder, she took security measures around her home and documenting any incident she had with Berry.

The State said Berry and Stevens were due in court May 12, the day after Stevens was murdered because Berry violated the protection order.

The prosecution said Berry showed up at the ATM at the RBC Bank, trapped Stevens with his car so she could not escape and intentionally killed her.

DEFENSE CLOSING STATEMENTS

The defense opened their statements by saying:

“Mike Berry knows he did a horrible, horrible mistake,” said Defense Attorney Ashley Cameron.

Cameron said every man has his breaking point and Berry met his. 

The defense said for the 10 years Stevens and Berry were married, things were fairly normal. He said there was no evidence that shows a history of domestic violence.

Cameron said there are only two documented times Berry saw his two children between January and May 2010, and that was hard for him to bear.

“He thought he was losing everything,” said Cameron.

The defense asked the jury for a felony murder charge and did not dispute Berry was the shooter. The defense is now asking the jury for life without parole.

Berry's trial began Friday, August 17.

Stevens' oldest son, a juvenile, took the stand that day to describe the events that unfolded.

Monday, August 20, prosecutors showed the surveillance tape from the bank's cameras in court.

Mobile police obtained two camera views from the bank where the incident happened. One video was an overhead view of the attack, and second video was from a camera on the ATM itself.

Berry watched the surveillance video, looking down only a few times. The defense isn't contesting that Berry committed the murder, but are asking for a lesser charge than capital murder.