US man escapes execution for dumping girl, 5, to be killed by alligators

The man who dumped a five-year-old girl in the Everglades – leaving her to be killed by alligators – had his life spared by a jury on Friday afternoon in a Miami-Dade courtroom.Harrel Braddy, 76, sat quietly when the verdict was read, briefly putting down his head before looking up at the ceiling. His eyes appeared to water. Braddy hugged his lawyers as the jury walked out of the courtroom.The girl’s mother, who testified about the horrific details of Braddy’s attack, was not in the courtroom.The jury deliberated for more than three hours. Jurors were tasked with deciding whether Braddy would spend the rest of his life in prison or be executed for the murder of Quatisha Maycock, five.Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez formally sentenced Braddy after the verdict was read.Quatisha Maycock’s mother, Shandelle Maycock, cries as she testifies during Harrel Braddy’­s trial in 2007. Photo: TNSBraddy kidnapped Quatisha and her mother Shandelle Maycock – an acquaintance Braddy met in a church group – from their home on the night of November 7, 1998.