Jury Convicts Aunt in Murder of Girl, 8 : Courts: The South-Central woman faces 15 years to life in prison. The bruised and beaten body of her niece was found encased in concrete two years ago.

A jury on Monday convicted Madie Lee Moore of killing her 8-year-old niece, whose bruised and beaten body was found in a trash can and encased in concrete.

Moore, 45, who had been credited with “rescuing” troubled relatives by taking them in, will face a maximum penalty of 15 years to life in prison on the second-degree murder conviction when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Morris B. Jones sentences her Aug. 10.

The 19-day trial examined the grisly death of Moore’s niece, LaToya Harris, who lived with Moore in South-Central Los Angeles.

“I think we all feel bad for the victim,” said jury forewoman Cheryl Cadwell. “I don’t have feelings for Ms. Moore.”

Added the prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jane Blissert: “It’s the most gruesome case I’ve ever handled. It’s the saddest case I’ve ever handled.”

When LaToya’s body was found two years ago, it was covered with bruises and scars, the back of her head was punctured, blood vessels had burst in her eyes and her left hand was broken.

The official cause of the girl’s death was an overdose of drugs and alcohol. The child’s 55-pound body had a blood alcohol level of 0.14, almost twice the legal level of drunkenness for adults, and bruises on her mouth indicated that she could have been force-fed the lethal substance, prosecutors said.

Prosecutor Blissert said the most compelling testimony against Moore came from her daughter Lisa, 9.

“Lisa said she saw her mother pour pills into LaToya’s mouth,” Blissert said.

Blissert said she was happy with the verdict, even though she had sought a first-degree murder conviction against Moore.

Moore’s guilt-ridden son, Maurice Nathaniel Moore, 21, contacted police a week after the child’s death in 1993 and confessed that he had put her body in the concrete. He pleaded no contest to being an accessory to the crime after the fact, and has served a prison sentence.

Madie Moore’s lawyer, David Herriford, said before her trial that she and her brothers and sisters were placed in foster homes as children after their mother was sentenced to prison for murder. One of Moore’s brothers committed suicide and another brother was committed to a mental hospital, a relative said.

Despite Moore’s troubled family history, no extensive background check was done before five children were placed in her home because it did not appear that a check was needed, a Department of Children and Family Services agent said.

Zhandra Soils, LaToya’s mother and Moore’s younger sister, said she was a crack cocaine addict who lived off and on in the streets for years, giving birth to LaToya and six other children by different fathers. All but one of the children eventually ended up in Moore’s care.

Herriford, who could not be reached for comment Monday, said earlier that Moore found LaToya dead after the child had gotten into a closet where pills were kept. Moore panicked, fearing authorities would take away the other children living with her, Herriford said.