Man found guilty of killing woman along trail

DALLAS - A man charged with brutally raping and murdering a 54-year-old mother along a suburban Atlanta bike trail has been found guilty.

Paulding County District Attorney Drew Lane says the jury took 90 minutes on Monday to reach a guilty verdict for 46-year-old Michael Ledford for the 2006 killing of Jennifer Ewing. He was convicted of murder, aggravated battery, kidnapping and aggravated sodomy.

The jury will decide in the sentencing phase of the trial whether Ledford should be sentenced to death or to life in prison.

Police said Ledford ambushed Ewing as she biked along the Silver Comet Trail, which runs from Smyrna to Alabama. Prosecutors say Ewing tried to fight him off, but Ledford beat her to death, then discarded her naked body along the trail.

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