Mother of convicted killer berates daughter in court, asks for strictest sentence

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — The mother of a woman convicted of shooting and killing a man while he filmed her with his cellphone asked a judge in Clayton County, Georgia, to give her daughter the strictest sentence possible.

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Ciera Harp, 29, was scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday after a jury found her guilty of malice murder and aggravated assault on May 22, AJC.com previously reported.

Judge Robert Mack ultimately delayed sentencing until June 26 because one of Harp’s attorneys left the case.

However, Harp's mother, Adrienne Thurmond, did not hold back in telling the judge what she believes her daughter deserves, according to WSB-TV. She asked Mack to sentence Harp to life in prison without parole before calling on the court to take a drastic action.

“We, the family, ask the court to sterilize Ciera Harp to prevent anymore children being born,” Harp’s mother said.

Proescutors said Harp shot Rahim Grant seven times in a Clayton County apartment on Dec. 29. He died of his injuries.

Grant's mother, Geraldine Grant Bryson, previously said Harp was obsessed with her son. Soon after Harp was arrested, Grant Bryson told WSB-TV about her son's troubled and tumultuous relationship with the woman.

She said she told him to get out his phone and start recording whenever he felt he was in trouble.

"(I told him) get the video, record it and lay the phone down," she said.

Grant did that and recorded his own murder, WSB-TV previously reported.

Initially, police were not able to get evidence from Grant's phone. Authorities eventually got their hands on it and saw footage of Harp shooting Grant as he begged for water and expressed a desire to hug his daughter, WSB-TV reported.

“It broke my heart,” she said. “ ... It's something you don't think when you just talked to your son.”

On the witness stand in court, Thurmond said her daughter was manipulative, connived her way through life and “reveled in disrespect and foolishness.”

“Wherever you went,” she said, “chaos and trouble were sure to follow.”

Thurmond said Harp was upset at Grant for ending their relationship, according to WSB-TV.

“Your envious nature took control, and you murdered Rahim for moving on without you,” she said.

Harp countered by sneering and mouthing profanity at her mother, WSB-TV reported.

“You repeatedly hurt the family,” Thurmond said. “Our family.”

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