JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — UPDATE: A Duval County jury found Amanda Guthrie guilty Friday of neglect by culpable negligence. She will be back in court on Sept. 21 when a sentencing date will be set.
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Closing arguments in Amanda Guthrie's trial began Friday morning.
The Jacksonville mother is charged with aggravated manslaughter in the shooting of her 14-year-old daughter, Ayva, on Jan. 19, 2021. Guthrie's daughter was playing with an unlocked gun in the family's home when she was shot in the head. She was pronounced dead the next day.
Amanda Guthrie decided not to testify Thursday.
During closing arguments, State Attorney Cameron French tells the jury Guthrie's actions were preventable and called it "poor parenting."
“Now because of her actions, we are at 941 days since Ayva Guthrie became forever 14," State Attorney Cameron French said. “She [Amanda Guthrie] exposed her to that firearm. She exposed her to pulling that trigger. Every gun should be treated as if it's loaded."
French played a part of Guthrie's call to 911.
"My daughter and I were playing with the gun, it went off and I guess it had an extra bullet in it," Guthrie told the dispatcher.
French also played Guthrie's interview with detectives. In the video, Guthrie says the gun was kept on the armoire in Guthrie's bedroom. She says Ayva knew where the gun was and on that day, grabbed it.
Guthrie says she smokes marijuana. She told detectives she was rolling a joint when Ayva had the gun and admits she was distracted.
"She handed it back to me and I was looking this way," Guthrie tells detectives during the interview. "I had my finger on the trigger, and I don’t remember, I don’t know, I pulled it and its never done that, it went bang."
Guthrie admits to detectives that she was "reckless."
“I feel like in the moment I made a really stupid decision," Guthrie said.
Prosecutors argue that the gun was pointed directly at Ayva when she was shot, but the defense argues the gun was pointed down, and the bullet hit the floor before ricocheting and hitting Ayva on the right side of the head. Both stories contradict Guthrie's call to 911 saying she "shot up."
Evidence presented in court Wednesday and Thursday show a bullet strike to a picture frame on the wall in a bedroom. The defense argued there was a chip in the tile floor showing where the bullet hit. A forensic expert who testified on behalf of the defense says the bullet was already deformed when it struck Ayva.
“It doesn’t matter where that bullet goes or where that barrel is pointed, it's preventable," French concluded.
Guthrie's lawyer, Richard Landes described Guthrie's call to 911, played in court, as frantic, confused and distraught. He argued French's statement that Guthrie didn't tell detectives the bullet ricocheted before hitting Ayva.
"We know that within a minute and a half of getting off the phone with 911, Amanda Guthrie called her wife, Ashley McMullin telling her there’s been an accident and it had been a ricochet. She did tell somebody that," Landes said. “Do you think that Amanda Guthrie is making up some ricochet theory after the fact?”
Landes told the jury they will have to decide: was a crime committed or was this negligence?
"Mrs. Guthrie thought she was keeping her gun safe without having a magazine in it," Landes said. "That’s not gross conduct, that’s a mistake. The accident can happen to anyone."
Guthrie pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated manslaughter, shooting or throwing deadly missiles and possession of more than 20 grams of cannabis while armed.
The jury will begin deliberating Friday afternoon.