Muscogee County jury acquits Cynthia Sanders on malice murder charge, finds her guilty on weapons charge

A Muscogee County Superior Court jury acquitted a Columbus woman of the most serious charge in connection with last year's stabbing death of her daughter's boyfriend, but convicted her of a lesser weapons charge and could not reach a decision on two other counts.

Cynthia Sanders, 50, was convicted of possession of a knife during commission of a crime in the Oct. 25, 2010, death of 33-year-old Calvin Lee Jones. Chief Judge John Allen sentenced her to five years in prison, three to serve.

The jury, which deliberated for more than 10 hours over two days, found her not guilty of malice murder, which could have carried a life in prison without parole sentence.

The jury was deadlocked on felony murder and manslaughter charges.

Sanders was taken into custody about 5:30 p.m., just after Allen handed down the sentence.

This story was originally published March 18, 2011 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Muscogee County jury acquits Cynthia Sanders on malice murder charge, finds her guilty on weapons charge."