Former UA student Galareka Harrison,right, shows no emotion as the jury finds her guilty.

david sanders / arizona daily star

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When Pima County Superior Court Judge Nanette Warner sentences Galareka Harrison Nov. 25, she will have just two options when it comes to the murder charge.

Warner could make sure Harrison spends the rest of her life behind bars or she could send her to prison with the possibility of being released sometime after 25 years.

While a sentencing is usually held within 30 days of a conviction, Warner agreed to give the attorneys extra time to prepare for Harrison's.

Family members from both sides will be given the opportunity to write letters to the judge and to put together videos to help her better understand the young women as well as what the appropriate sentence should be.

Assistant Pima County Public Defender John O'Brien also told Warner he is considering having Harrison evaluated by psychologists.

In addition to the murder charge, Warner must also sentence Harrison on three counts of forgery and one count of taking the identity of another. All four charges carry a potential prison sentence of between 1 and 3.75 years. They can be run concurrently or consecutively.

The jury convicted Harrison on all five charges after deliberating just three hours Friday in Pima County Superior Court.

While there was little emotion seen in the courtroom when the verdicts were read, the victim's family and friends cried and hugged each other in the hallway afterward as Harrison's family quietly conferred several feet away with O'Brien and his fellow defense attorney, Dawn Priestman.

Pima County prosecutors argued Harrison stabbed Mia Henderson, 18, to death on Sept. 5, 2007, just days after both girls moved from the Navajo Nation into a dorm at the UA to start their freshman year.

Prosecutors Rick Unklesbay and Kellie Johnson told jurors Harrison killed Henderson because her roommate told university police on Aug. 28 that she had found her UA CatCard and Social Security card in Harrison's wallet and that $500 was missing from her checking account. A CatCard is a combination identification and charge card.

Harrison confessed not only to stealing the cards and the $500, but to stealing the identity of another girl and to writing two other checks, according to testimony.

The prosecutors presented evidence that Harrison began plotting to kill Henderson days before the incident. She spoke with an acquaintance about fingerprint evidence and a suicidal friend, she typed up a fake suicide note pretending to be Henderson, and she bought an 8-inch butcher knife.

The prosecutors also relied heavily on the taped, three-hour statement Harrison gave police in which she eventually admitted to attacking Henderson as she lay in her bed.

An autopsy revealed Henderson was stabbed more than 20 times — 14 of the stab wounds were to her back.

After the verdict, nine of the jurors agreed to discuss their verdict with the media.

There wasn't one single "smoking gun" that led to the conviction, jury foreman Ian Roberts said. Instead, the letter, the purchase of the knife and Harrison's statement proved to be overwhelming evidence of her guilt, he said.

"When you broke it down to the basic pieces, the story told itself," Roberts said.

"She really didn't give them much to build a case with," Roberts said, referring to the defense attorneys. "The facts were all against her."

Still, juror Daron Cross said they made sure to give Harrison the benefit of the doubt and looked at every piece of evidence presented.

"We didn't take anything for granted; we looked over everything again," Cross said.

The jurors said they approached the case as both their job and their civic duty.

They formed no personal feelings toward Harrison, nor did they take into consideration any possible punishment, Roberts said.

The jurors also said they believe that — contrary to what the defense attorneys suggested — Harrison's police statement was voluntary.

At the beginning of that statement, Harrison told police a strange man had attacked both women in their room at Graham-Greenlee residence hall. She then went on to say Henderson attacked her. Later still, she said she stabbed Henderson as she lay in her bed.

Harrison told detectives that after placing the suicide note on Henderson's desk, she began "thinking and thinking and thinking and thinking" about everything Henderson had done to her.

Henderson was asleep on her bed and she just got mad, Harrison said.

Harrison told UA Detective Mario Leon that Henderson woke up just as she was about to stab her.

"Then that's how she got those cuts on her hands, because she grabbed it from me. Then she tried to (inaudible) first. Then I pushed really hard and she fell back on the bed. Then I got the knife and that's how I got (inaudible)," Harrison said.

Harrison told Leon she doesn't know how she got the bite marks on her hands, but acknowledged she tried to cover Henderson's mouth during the attack.

Henderson was still moving when she left the room, Harrison said.

Harrison did not take the stand during the trial and O'Brien chose not to put any other witnesses on the stand.

Because the government has the burden of proof, defendants are not required to either testify or present evidence.

Prosecutors questioned 15 witnesses.