Guilty of murder:

Young victim suffocated in a small, padlocked box

Jurors find Sammantha Allen guilty of first-degree murder and other charges in the death of her 10-yearold cousin, Ame Deal, who suffocated in a padlocked plastic box at her home.

Sammantha Allen was found guilty of first-degree murder and other charges Monday in the death of Ame Deal, her 10year-old cousin, who suffocated inside a padlocked plastic box at her home.

The verdict was delivered Monday by a Maricopa County Superior Court jury. Allen’s sentencing is not yet scheduled.

John Curry, Allen’s attorney, and prosecutor Jeannette Gallagher declined to comment on the verdict. Allen, 28, told then-Detective Gregory McKay, on July 27, 2011, that she knew her husband, John Michael Allen, placed the girl inside of the box, according to her videotaped statements to Phoenix police, shown to jurors Thursday. “There never was intention on killing her,” Sammatha Allen said in the video. “He (John Allen) said he was going to get her out.”

Sammantha Allen also was found guilty of child abuse.

John Allen is set to face trial beginning Aug. 7.

Video presented during the trial showed Sammantha Allen telling McKay that she knew Ame was still inside the 31-by-14-by-12-inch box when Sammantha Allen fell asleep, and that multiple members of the family had used the small plastic box as a form of punishment for the child.

Allen initially told Phoenix police the girl’s death was a result of a game of hide-and-seek gone wrong.