A man faces the death penalty after being found guilty of feeding a five-year-old girl to alligators in Florida. Harrel Franklin Braddy had befriended the youngster Quatisha and her mother Shandelle Maycock after being released from prison early for good behaviour.

But he went berserk after being asked to leave their Miami-Dade County home, a US court heard.

He choked Ms Maycock before forcing the pair into his car.

At one point, the woman regained consciousness, grabbed the child and jumped out of the moving vehicle.

But she told the court how Braddy then stopped, throttled her again and put her in the boot, adding that she never saw her daughter again.

Prosecutors said Braddy then drove to a section of Interstate 75 in the Everglades known as Alligator Alley and dropped Quatisha in the water beside the road.

Authorities found the girl's body two days later. Her left arm was missing and her skull crushed.

She was still alive when alligators bit her head and stomach, a medical examiner said.

Ms Maycock woke up bleeding and disoriented in a cane field.

Braddy was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, burglary and escape. He faces execution.



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