(WKYT) – A jury found Shannon Gilday guilty but mentally ill Thursday in the killing of Jordan Morgan, who died four years ago when Gilday walked into a Madison County home.
Jurors in Shelby County decided Gilday’s fate within three hours. They got the case just before noon and returned the verdict around 3 p.m.
The case was initially supposed to take place in Madison County. However, due to local publicity of the event, Gilday’s case was moved from Madison County to Shelby County.
Richmond Police helped secure the scene and tracked down family members the night Morgan was killed in 2022.
“We hope that there might be some closure for the family and even for some officers,” said Makenzie Davis, public information officer for Richmond Police Department. “We know nothing can ever really reverse that Jordan’s life was taken and we want to remember her well in all of that.”
Davis said the department has followed the case closely since that night.
“This day was not about the thing that happened and the crime that happened, but it was about Jordan and about her life,” Davis said.
Richmond Mayor Robert Blythe told WKYT the verdict shows the justice system works and that he hopes it brings some comfort to Morgan’s family.
A spokesperson for the Madison County Sheriff’s Office told WKYT that their office has been involved in the case from the start and that they are glad for the family.
Davis said the verdict is a reminder of what and who was lost.
“I think that we want to be really intentional – we don’t forget and we don’t want you to either, so these are lives, so these are important people and these were sisters and daughters and family members,” Davis said.