LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — After hours and hours of deliberations that lasted into Friday morning, a Fayette County jury found Carol Ann Hignite guilty in the death of her husband eight years later.
Her son, Jason Hignite, believes she murdered his father but the jury disagreed. They found her guilty of first-degree manslaughter and wanton neglect of an adult. Jason Hignite said as soon as he saw his father's injuries in the hospital, he knew it wasn't because of a fall as the defense argued.
"Once I saw his skull, his head, it was awful, it was awful," said Hignite.
Leon Hignite died in September of 2017. Prosecutors argued Carol Hignite beat him with a hammer then left him lying on a bathroom floor for days before setting their home on fire.
At her first trial, the jury was deadlocked. As the hours passed, Hignite worried the second trial could end the same way but is thankful it didn't.
When asked what he thought the difference was between the two trial Hignite said, "I saw a lot of the jurors this time paying more attention and I saw more note-taking."
He told LEX 18 he spoke to one juror.
"They said if they didn't go down to manslaughter one, there wasn't going to be an agreement and that it would have been a mistrial," he said. "They didn't want to put us through that again."Carol Hignite is set to be sentenced in February.
Jason Hignite said he'll be there - pushing for the maximum punishment for his mother.
