CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — The mother of a convicted murderer went off on her daughter Wednesday morning, spewing explosive comments during a sentencing hearing in Clayton County.
Channel 2's Tom Jones, who has covered court cases on TV for 25 years, said what he saw inside the courtroom left him speechless.
He said he’s never seen a murder defendant's mother berate her child like what he saw in the Clayton County Courthouse -- and he’s never seen a defendant respond the way Ciera Harp did.
A jury convicted Harp of murdering her child's father, Rahim Grant.
When Harp’s mother, Adrienne Thurmond, took the stand, she let her daughter have it.
“You murdered Rahim,” Thurmond said sternly staring at her daughter. “Wherever you went chaos and trouble were sure to follow.”
The witness called Harp manipulative, a liar who reveled in disrespect and foolishness.
She even asked the judge to take drastic action.
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“I am her mother,” Thurmond said. “We, the family, ask the court to sterilize Ciera Harp to prevent any more children being born.”
Harp recorded herself shooting Grant multiple times over several minutes in front of their daughter.
Jones watched as Harp sneered at her mother and mouthed a profanity and called her a female dog after she ripped into her.
Harp's mother said she tried to teach her daughter to live a better life, but she insisted on playing by her own rules.
“You repeatedly hurt the family. Our family,” Thurmond said.
She asked the judge for the maximum punishment, life without parole.
Grant's mother, Geraldine Grant Bryson, wanted more.
“The death penalty is what you deserve 'cause you took his life,” Bryson said.
The judge delayed sentencing until later this month after one of Harp's attorneys left the case.
Harp previously said she shot Grant because he was beating her.
Thurmond testified Harp shot Grant because he was moving on without her.
Cox Media Group
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