BLOOMINGTON - A McLean County jury convicted Maurice LaGrone Jr. of first-degree murder Tuesday evening in the deaths of his former girlfriend's three children.

The panel of seven women and five men deliberated more than 23 hours over four days before returning the guilty verdict against the 30-year-old man. LaGrone showed no emotion as the verdict was read.

Jury members were somber and at least one juror wiped away tears as they were polled by DeWitt County Judge Stephen H. Peters. One juror looked directly at LaGrone for several minutes then put his face in his hands and appeared distraught.

Christopher Hamm, 6, Austin Brown, 3 and Kyleigh Hamm, 23 months, died after their mother's car went into Clinton Lake with LaGrone behind the wheel and their mother in the front seat.

After the verdict, Special Prosecutor Ed Parkinson shook hands with the fathers of the three children. Craig Brown, Austin's father, pulled Parkinson close and said, "I want a hug."

Parkinson told reporters that "the three little kids got justice today. It was a long trail to justice."

LaGrone's attorney Jeff Justice said the defense team was "overwhelmingly shocked" by the verdict.

When asked if he felt it was a mistake to allow his client to take the witness stand, Justice said, "He always wanted to testify from the day I met him."

The jury decision was announced shortly before 6:30 p.m. The panel was asked by Peters at 4:30 p.m. if they wanted to adjourn for the night and sent word that they were at a crucial point and wanted to continue deliberations.

During their discussions Tuesday, the jury asked for three pieces of evidence. They asked to see four photographs of LaGrone and the children, information a psychologist's testimony on reaction to grief and emergencies and a videotape of automotive testing of the car.

The Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty in Illinois released a statement after the verdict.

"The Coalition has disagreed with the decision to make this a death penalty case from the beginning. The track record of using jailhouse informants in capital cases has proven highly unreliable and has sent a lot of innocent people to death row," Chuck Hutchcraft, state organizer for the coalition, said.

On Wednesday, the murder case moves to its second phase when jurors will determine if LaGrone is eligible for the death penalty. If they decide he is eligible, the case moves to the third phase when they will determine if a death sentence will be handed down. If they reject capital punishment, the judge will sentence LaGrone to prison.

LaGrone's attorneys told the judge they would ask for a continuance for the third phase of the trial which could take a week.

During about four weeks of testimony, jurors heard testimony from 37 prosecution witnesses and 28 defense witnesses.

Both sides agreed that the deaths of Hamm's three children made no good sense. For the defense, the incident at the lake involved recklessness and stupidity; for the prosecution, it was a matter of intentional murder.

The prosecution showed jurors numerous large color photographs of the west side boat ramp and the area surrounding it.

They also saw a video of automotive tests performed by police showing how a driver could back up the boat ramp. LaGrone had claimed he could get the car back up the ramp once it started rolling into the lake.

A tape recording of Hamm's 911 call to emergency dispatchers was played twice in the courtroom and replayed 15 to 20 times during deliberations.

The most potentially damaging testimony against LaGrone came from a former federal inmate who was housed with LaGrone at the DeWitt County jail. Dwight Hayden, an ex-prisoner with an extensive criminal history, relayed details of a dream in which his deceased mother urged him to tell police about what he said was a confession LaGrone made to him.

The state introduced witnesses who were at the lake and the hospital the night the children died - police officers, doctors, nurses and family members - who told the jury that Hamm and LaGrone did not appear to be wet or upset after the children were pulled from the car.

The prosecution painted an unflattering picture of LaGrone as a man who worked infrequently, used drugs and was content to let his girlfriends work and pay the household expenses. The former dishwasher abused and terrorized Hamm's children by placing Austin's head in an oven and threatening the children with knives and screwdrivers, according to prosecution witnesses.

The long-awaited testimony of Hamm did not materialize at the conclusion of the state's case. She refused to testify, despite an offer of limited immunity that would have protected her from having her statements used against her in her trial.

The jury also did not hear statements Hamm made while she was in a hospital psychiatric unit. Police interviewed Hamm for three hours but did not record the statement.

The judge ruled earlier in the trial that Hamm's hospital comments could be used only after Hamm disclosed them on the witness stand.

The defense put LaGrone on the witness stand as its first witness. He admitted he lied three times to police when questioned about the incident. Those lies were that he had smoked marijuana the day the car went into the water, the car was much closer to the water's edge than LaGrone initially told investigators and he did not apply the brake as the car went into the lake.

The false statements of what happened were offered, said LaGrone, because he felt guilty the children had died. "I felt responsible. I knew I could have done more," LaGorne told the jury during two days on the witness stand.

Several LaGrone family members and former girlfriends offered the jury a view of LaGrone as a man who likes children and went out of his way to spend time with them. Young members of LaGrone's family recalled play times that included a green mask he wore to scare them.

Former girlfriends said they trusted LaGrone with the care of their children while they worked.

Hamm's mother, Ann Powers, testified for the defense that her daughter's life was based on a string of mistakes, including relationships with three men that produced three children but no lasting commitment.

"Amanda never did pick the right men," said Powers.

Read more about the verdict in Wednesday's Herald & Review.