The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday wiped out the felony murder conviction of Fairburn babysitter Maria Owens in the 2011 death of 11-month-old Jaylen Kelly, while leaving a separate child-cruelty conviction firmly in place. The ruling zeroes in on how jurors were instructed at trial and pulls the felony murder verdict, along with the life sentence that came with it, out of its final posture for now. Prosecutors can seek a new trial on that murder count, but the high court said Owens does not get a full do-over on every charge.
High court faults jury instructions
As reported by WSB-TV, the Georgia Supreme Court found that the trial judge gave jurors an "erroneous and harmful" instruction, which was enough to undo the felony murder conviction. The opinion, quoted by the station, stressed that "Because the evidence was constitutionally sufficient to support the guilty verdicts on those counts," the court was limiting relief to the murder count and leaving the remaining verdicts intact. The decision, released Feb. 17, 2026, sharply narrows what prosecutors can ask a lower court to revisit.
Case history in brief
The infant died in June 2011 while in Owens' care. She first went to trial in 2013, and an appellate decision in 2014 knocked out parts of that original verdict, as outlined by Justia. Prosecutors secured a retrial, and Owens was convicted again and sentenced to life in 2020, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. Prosecutors have maintained that Owens beat Jaylen while babysitting; prior defense claims reported in court records said any blow was an effort to help the child cough.
What the ruling means
Because the reversal grew out of a trial court instruction error, not a finding that the evidence itself fell short, a new trial on the felony murder count is generally allowed under double jeopardy rules, as explained by FindLaw. If an appellate court had ruled the evidence was insufficient, that would typically bar a second prosecution. When a conviction is reversed for trial error, the law treats it as if the flawed trial never fully counted, which means Fulton County prosecutors can present the murder theory again so long as they fix the jury instruction the high court flagged.
Next steps in Fulton County
The Supreme Court made clear that Owens is not entitled to a full retrial. Her child-cruelty conviction stands, while the state retains the option to retry the murder charge, WSB-TV reports. Prosecutors have not yet said whether they will pursue a new felony murder trial or when one might land on the calendar. For now, Owens remains convicted on the child-cruelty counts, and the life sentence tied to the now-reversed murder verdict sits in legal limbo while everyone waits to see the state's next move.
The ruling closes one chapter in a case that has stretched over a decade and opens another. The ball is back in the Fulton County prosecutors' court, with the trial judge waiting to see what they decide to do next. This story will be updated as the courts set new dates or lawyers file fresh motions.
