NORWICH – The fate of accused murderer George Ford Jr. rests in the hands of the bench trial’s sole juror, Broome County Judge Joseph Cawley, who told the court he’ll render his decision at 3 p.m. Thursday.
Ford, 44, of Piscataway, N.J., is charged with second degree murder in the July 2007 death of his babysitter, 12-year-old Shyanne Somers of Otselic. Ford claims he accidentally ran her over while turning his truck around on Will Warner Road in the Town of Otselic. The prosecution says Ford murdered her in an effort to silence her over an unknown incident that happened between the two in the hours before her death.
Ford said he accidentally ran over Shyanne at around midnight on July 7, 2007 while District Attorney Joseph A. McBride asserts that a GPS tracker, placed in the defendant’s truck by his estranged wife, proves he killed Somers at around 3 a.m. after the two spent over two hours behind a vacant seasonal residence.
On the witness stand in Chenango County Court Tuesday, Ford said he retreated to the residence after the accident, not before, because he was in shock over the girl’s death and didn’t know what to do.
McBride said the GPS unit shows Ford’s truck detouring to Will Warner Road at around midnight and that it was in the area of an unoccupied seasonal residence from midnight to 3 a.m. During this time, the DA says Ford and the victim were together and that something inappropriate happened between the two.
Ford said he was traveling to see if a friend was home on a nearby road but didn’t see his car there, so he kept driving about half a mile to Will Warner Road. Once there, Ford said he pulled over at the seasonal residence to throw the GPS in a pond, but when he was unable to locate the body of water in the dark, he simply “tossed it into the grass.” Ford said he was familiar with the area and that he and his wife had considered buying the property.
Ford said that he and Somers then left the residence a few minutes later at around midnight and drove down the road to see horses he kept in a pasture. When Shyanne got out to look at the horses, Ford said he attempted to turn his truck around on the narrow seasonal road and hit her.
“You’re telling the court you were trying to turn around?” asked McBride.
“Yes sir, to get the GPS unit,” said Ford.
“You left the child dead on the side of the road?”
“Yes, sir.”
“To go get the GPS?” asked McBride.
“That was part of it, sir,” said Ford.
Ford began to explain his other reasons for retreating back to the seasonal residence, but was interrupted by Cawley, who instructed him to answer the DA’s questions and not volunteer information unless asked. McBride did not follow up with any questions related to the topic and neither did defense attorney Randel Scharf on his re-direct.
“So there is no dispute that you killed that little girl?” asked McBride.
“Yes, sir,” replied Ford.
“You ran her over?”
“Yes, sir.”
More than 60 people filled the Chenango County Courthouse Tuesday morning to watch the prosecution question the accused for the first time since his arrest July 8, 2007.
McBride asked Ford if he was supposed to care for Somers while she was with him. “You failed miserably, didn’t you?” asked McBride
“Yes sir, I failed miserably. But not on purpose,” replied Ford.
McBride spent nearly an hour and a half in his cross-examination.
“You killed that little girl for something inappropriate that took place, didn’t you?” said the DA.
“You know that didn’t happen, sir,” replied Ford.
Scharf raised a number of objections during the cross-examination, critical of the DA’s conduct toward his client. Cawley did not sustain the complaints.
McBride read the defendant’s original statement to police in which Ford said some of details were either misinterpreted or just simply incorrect.
McBride also criticized Ford for not acting sooner after the accident. “While the girl was lying in the road, dead, you were sitting at the seasonal residence, picking up the GPS, sitting around and thinking?” he asked.
“Yes sir,” Ford replied.
“The thing you didn’t think of very much was getting her help, was it?”
“She was already dead. I didn’t know what to do sir,” said Ford.

Closing arguments
Scharf described the evidence against his client as “circumstantial” and “peripheral.”
During the defense’s closing arguments, Scharf reminded the court that police searched Ford after he appeared at the hospital the morning of the incident and that they returned the GPS tracking device found in his pocket to him.
Scharf noted that the forensic pathologist who performed Somers’ autopsy, Dr. James Terzian, could not rule the death a homicide.
He also accused the prosecution of manifesting sexual allegations when none existed. “Even though all the results came back negative ... but we’re just gonna say he raped her,” mocked Scharf.
Scharf also said that the GPS evidence supports Ford’s theory more than the prosecution’s and quoted the readings taken.
“People don’t run people down at 2.5 miles per hour,” he said. The defense attorney pointed out that the GPS showed a gradual stop right before the alleged accident, “which is consistent with George’s testimony.”
“He admits what he can’t deny and denies what he can’t admit,” said McBride.
McBride attacked Ford’s assertion that he threw out the GPS at midnight and then killed Somers in an accident.
“He wasn’t up there to throw it out. It’s ridiculous. There’s a million places he could have thrown it,” he said.
“He knew he couldn’t tell them (police) he was parking with a child in a remote area, so he came up with something else,” said McBride.
McBride also said Ford lied to investigators when questioned about the seasonal residence on the day of his arrest and that he gave police contradicting testimony. Sheriff’s Lt. James E. Lloyd testified that Ford told him he was a reckless driver during the investigation, something he had not encountered in his nearly 20 years of experience as a police officer.
“Instead of minimizing his conduct, he is instead exaggerating it, as if to convince them,” said the DA.
In regards to the DNA and blood testing, McBride said, “most important it shows Mr. Ford had a hypodermic needle with his blood on it at the seasonal residence.”
“Taken as a whole, there is only one just verdict.” said McBride in closing.
Ford has waived his right to a jury trial, electing instead to have Judge Cawley render the verdict himself. If convicted tomorrow, he faces 25 years to life in prison on the second degree murder charge.