SHELBY - A Cleveland County jury on Monday found Dwight Stacy Justice guilty of felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily harm, but did not find him guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his 2-year-old stepson in February 2009.

Sentencing was delayed until legal issues are worked out, a process that could take several days. Justice could serve from six years to 12 years in prison, according to Cleveland County Assistant District Attorney Bill Young.

Justice, 45, was charged with first-degree murder and felony child abuse in Jeremiah Swafford's beating death. A medical examiner has testified that the boy died Feb. 14, 2009, from blunt-force trauma to his head.

Justice's wife, Kathy Lynn Swafford, was also charged with first-degree murder and felony child abuse and will be tried March 12. Her lawyer, Fred Flowers of Shelby, has asked for a change of venue because of pretrial publicity.

In the Justice case, the jury of nine men and three women was divided 8-4 on Thursday, the first full day of deliberations. They returned Monday and brought back a unanimous verdict in less than two hours.

In the sentencing phase of the trial the jury ran into another deadlock, this time over whether to apply an aggravating factor as requested by the state. Young said that applying this factor - whether Jeremiah was "very young" - would open up a wider range of punishment options for Superior Court Judge Robert Ervin.

The jury deliberated on the issue for slightly more than an hour and then reported they were split 9-3 and didn't think they could reach a unanimous decision.

Judge Ervin declared that phase a mistrial. A new jury may have to address the aggravating factor issue, but details hadn't been worked out by late Monday.

Meanwhile, after the jury was released, forewoman Ann Roberts said the snag in the sentencing phase of the trial "was a surprise to all of us."

She wouldn't give specifics about the hang-ups, but overall she said the trial was "horrible."

"We did the best we could," Roberts said. "We feel like we did our duty."

When the verdict was read, Justice showed no reaction.

Later, during the sentencing phase, he looked down at the table, shook his head slightly and appeared to be crying several times.

His sister and other family members sat nearby, several of them crying.

"He's upset, clearly," said Justice's attorney, Ted Cummings. "He says he never assaulted the child."

Justice didn't take the witness stand during the trial that began Jan. 18 and included graphic autopsy photos of Jeremiah. But the jury saw transcripts of three law enforcement interviews with him conducted on Feb. 13 and Feb. 14, 2009. They also watched a video of one interview.

In the sessions, Justice repeatedly denied he had anything to do with Jeremiah's death and also said he didn't see Swafford do anything.

A former jail inmate testifying for the defense last week said that while behind bars, Swafford had admitted she'd caused the fatal injuries to the toddler.

Jeanette Bonner of Shelby testified Swafford described how she'd picked Jeremiah up by his feet and slammed his head into a wooden part of a couch.

"She asked me, 'What do you think they'll do with me?' " Bonner testified. "When I told her she'd probably spend the rest of her life in prison, she said if she was going to spend the rest of her in prison so was he (Justice)."

Thirty minutes later, Bonner said, Swafford told a different version of events - this time that her husband had killed the toddler.

Last week, Swafford made a court appearance but declined to testify after being reminded by her attorney and the judge of her Fifth Amendment rights.

During closing arguments last week, prosecutor Young told the jury that, under the law, Justice was guilty of aiding and abetting even if he didn't physically harm Jeremiah.

Young told the jury Justice has "never got his story straight."

Young played audio clips to illustrate Justice's inconsistencies in interviews with law enforcement officers.

On Monday afternoon, deputies handcuffed Justice and led him out of the courtroom.

He went quietly and didn't look back.