From Dallas Morning News Crime Blog:

Woman pleads guilty in middle of murder trial, gets 50 years

11:26 AM Mon, Oct 12, 2009
Jennifer Emily/Reporter
 
A Detroit woman has pleaded guilty in the middle of her murder trial to shooting her on again, off again lover in the head, burying him in his backyard and emptying his bank accounts.
 
In exchange for her plea, Kwaneta Harris accepted a 50-year-sentence. A jury could have sentenced her from 5 years to life in prison.
 
Harris killed 46-year-old Michael Giles, an U.S. Air Force retiree, in the summer of 2006 but his body was not discovered until October 2007. She hired people to dig a hole for his body and then paid someone to pour concrete over his grave.
 
Harris has previously pled guilty to theft for stealing more than $200,000 from Giles. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison for that crime.
 
The sentences will run concurrently.
 
Last week, Dallas County prosecutors Josh Healy and Kevin Brooks portrayed Harris and manipulative and deceitful, creating a web of lies to cover up Giles' murder.
 
Defense attorneys Richard Franklin and Robbie McClung have said that Harris was in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend, who is the one actually responsible for Giles' death.
 
The boyfriend, Deandre Knight, has been charged with theft in the case. He did not testify during the trial.
 
The court will soon hear victim impact statements from Giles' family.
 

 
People from across the country that knew the Michael Giles and Kwaneta Harris were following this trial. No one did a better job following it and keeping others informed than John Bayless. His blog (link below) had much more information than could be found anywhere else. Even though the trial ran only a week, John has been getting a lot of hits, as evidenced by the comments that readers have left. Amazingly, jurors and witnesses have even found his blog and left comments.
 
While I expect this to be my final post on the case, I'm guessing that there is plenty of information that John will continue to write. I suggest that readers keep checking his blog for updates.