"This is the first step in responsibility and accountability in Aniya’s death," said Paul Grieco, the attorney for Aniya's birth father, Mickhal Garrett. "There are certainly other responsible parties that will be held accountable. The system failed Aniya and the Garrett family and that system will be held

"This is the first step in responsibility and accountability in Aniya’s death," said Paul Grieco, the attorney for Aniya's birth father, Mickhal Garrett. "There are certainly other responsible parties that will be held accountable. The system failed Aniya and the Garrett family and that system will be held accountable."

By: Drew Scofield , Kaylyn Hlavaty, , Jordan Vandenberge, , Ian Cross

After deliberating for just under a day, a jury returned a guilty verdict for Sierra Day and Deonte Lewis who were accused of killing Day’s 4-year-old child, Aniya Day-Garrett.

CLEVELAND — After deliberating for just under a day, a jury returned a guilty verdict for Sierra Day and Deonte Lewis who were accused of killing Day’s 4-year-old child, Aniya Day-Garrett.
Jurors found Day and Lewis guilty of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, permitting child abuse, three counts of endangering children and tampering with evidence.

Deonte Lewis reacts to being found guilty of all 8 counts.

Sierra Day, after being found guilty of the murder of her 4-year-old daughter.

"This is the first step in responsibility and accountability in Aniya’s death," said Paul Grieco, the attorney for Aniya's birth father, Mickhal Garrett. "There are certainly other responsible parties that will be held accountable. The system failed Aniya and the Garrett family and that system will be held accountable."

Mickhal Garrett, Aniya's birth father, embraces a detective on the case following the verdicts.

The dramatic conclusion of the trial followed five days of testimony by witnesses including Aniya’s father, Day’s sister, detectives, a social worker and a forensic specialist who examined Aniya’s body.
"Whenever a child is harmed in our community we want to get justice for them," said Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Aqueelah Jordan afte the verdict was announced. "We are pleased the process worked the way it did."
On Wednesday morning, the prosecution and defense lawyers for Day and Lewis presented their closing arguments.
Day’s defense lawyer argued that the evidence shows that Day did not purposefully or intentionally cause the death of her daughter.
“Is there a sinister motive in the things that she said and did? Is there a sinister motive in how she acted and responded? Or, is she a young lady that operates in the bottom 3 percent of our population? Is she a young lady with such cognitive difficulties that she doesn’t understand some of those things?” Day’s defense attorney said.
Lewis’ attorney defended her client by trying to pin Aniya’s death solely on her mother.
“He didn’t want this child to die, that’s why when he found her unresponsive, he called 911, he wanted to save her life,” said Lewis’ defense attorney during closing arguments Wednesday.
Prosecutors argued that both Day and Lewis failed the little girl when they abused her and left her to die in a Euclid apartment last March.