Update: The jury is deliberating a sentence for Kaitlin Armstrong. New information about this case can be found here.
(NewsNation) — A jury has found Kaitlin Armstrong guilty in the murder of Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson, a professional cyclist.
Armstrong, 35, had previously pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge.
The case started when Wilson was found unconscious with gunshot wounds on May 11, 2022 at a friend’s home in Austin, Texas.
Prosecutors say Armstrong killed Wilson out of jealousy, as the cyclist had a brief romantic relationship with her on-again, off-again boyfriend Colin Strickland, another professional cyclist.
Wilson, an emerging star in gravel and mountain bike riding, had been in Austin the day she died ahead of a Texas race she was among the favorites to win.
Speaking to the court after the verdict was read, Caitlin Cash, the friend whose home Wilson was found at, remembered how excited the two were to see each other when she came to Austin — so much so that Wilson forgot her bags at the airport. After retrieving the items, Wilson and Cash shared a king bed as they caught up on each other’s lives.
Cash said when Wilson left for a bike ride on May 11, she had taken a photo of her and sent it to Wilson’s mom, writing “your girl is in safe hands here in Austin.”
“I have held a lot of guilt for not being able to protect her that night,” Cash said.
When Cash found Wilson, she gave her friend chest compressions more than 100 times, not knowing she was already dead. Although Cash moved back into the apartment because she didn’t want the “darkness” to take over that home, it can be challenging for her to live there.
“Every time I park my car and I walk up my stairs, I have to talk myself into doing it. I have to tell myself that there is nothing that’s scary on the other side of the door,” Cash said. “Every time I go to put in a load of laundry, I see the dent that the bullet left when she was shot in the head. Every time I get something out of my pantry, I think of her standing right here.”
In the 554 days since Wilson was killed, Cash said she has relived that night multiple times, “trying to figure out if there was something I could have done differently to protect her.”
“I think about it every single day of my life,” she told the court. “I’ve had panic attacks where I thought I was dying.”
When asked if he could talk about his sister, Wilson’s brother, Matthew, broke down on the stand.
“My sister was my closest confidant, my only sibling. The only person in the world that I could talk to about certain experiences that only she could understand,” he said. “She was a really, really good listener.”
Wilson had helped Matthew with his depression before she died, even suggesting they text each other three of the best things that happened each day.
Learning his sister had been killed ” changed my entire world instantly,” Matthew said.
“My sister had her life taken from her, for no reason at all. She’ll never ride a bike again. She’ll never take a 20-minute break from work to bake banana bread in her kitchen. She’ll never get married,” Matthew said. “She’ll never buy a home or have kids. She’ll never meet someone she loves. I will never be able to see that all happen and see her enjoy her life and build her life.”
Wilson’s mother Karen recalled in court that her daughter had a “force in her,” even as a baby. As an infant, Wilson had wanted to move and climb even though she was “stuck in this little body.”
Wilson, Karen reminisced, was gentle but strong. The Wilsons were an outdoor family, and Moriah Wilson was “born to ride a bike,” Karen said. It was something her mother was able to see, even before Wilson did herself.
Wilson athletic career didn’t just include cycling — she had also been a slalom skier before an ACL injury. But cycling is good rehabilitation for knee injuries, giving Wilson a new goal.
“She did it,” Karen said. “Her dream came true.”
Taking the stand, Eric, Wilson’s father, said he was very proud of his daughter, who had made the most of every day of her life.
“She was a beautiful girl, a beautiful young woman. She was just coming into her own really as a cyclist in that last year, and I knew that she wanted to be a professional cyclist,” he said. “And she achieved that dream.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.