A sentencing hearing was scheduled for May 22, where the judge will sentence Boswell on her other charges and determine how her sentence will be served.
SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. — A Sullivan County jury found Megan Boswell guilty on all 19 charges against her in the murder of her 1-year-old daughter, Evelyn Boswell.
Megan Boswell was found guilty of murdering Evelyn and trying to cover up her death.
Boswell was found guilty of the following charges:
- First-degree premeditated murder
- First-degree murder in the perpetration of aggravated child abuse
- First-degree murder in the perpetration of aggravated child neglect
- Aggravated child abuse
- Aggravated child neglect
- Tampering with evidence
- 11 counts of false report
- Abuse of a corpse
- Failure to report a death under suspicious, unusual or unnatural circumstances
The jury deliberated Megan Boswell’s sentence on the murder charges. After a few hours, jurors returned at 2 p.m. Thursday and decided Boswell should serve life in prison. The judge set the formal sentencing hearing for May 22, where he will sentence Boswell on the 16 other charges and determine how her sentence will be served.
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“Five years ago, we began working alongside the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, and the Office of the 2nd Judicial District Attorney General to pursue justice for Baby Evelyn. Today, justice was finally served,” Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said. “Every single person who worked on this case should be commended. It was both challenging and heartbreaking, but they never wavered from their mission to ensure the person responsible for Evelyn’s death was held accountable.”
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The case gained statewide and national attention in February 2020 when investigators began a weeks-long Amber Alert search for the toddler before finding her remains inside a trash can on family property.
The defense brought Megan’s mother, Megan’s former foster mom and her grandmother up to the stand to testify during the sentencing phase. All of the witnesses called asked that the jury sentence her to life with the possibility of parole.
Megan’s mother, Angela, testified to Megan seeing drug use and violence during her upbringing. Angela admitted that Megan’s grandparents raised her for most of her life.
Angela married Tommy Boswell when she was just 15 and had her first baby when she was 16. Angela said Tommy was convicted of kidnapping and assaulting her in 2024. The defense entered documents about Tommy’s convictions into evidence.
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She told the court Megan didn’t have a good role model growing up.
“I failed her on that miserably,” Angela said.
Megan’s former foster mom, Gail Kyte, was next to testify.
“She was one of the worst children I brought in as far as neglect,” Kyte said of Megan’s condition when she entered into foster care.
Kyte said Megan’s intake papers mentioned, trauma and rape. Kyte said Megan’s hair was extremely matted to the point she couldn’t run a comb through it and it took several weeks to get rid of the lice. Kyte said Megan was also malnourished.
Kyte said described Megan as “17-years-old, pregnant and scared.” Megan got into online school and Kyte never had a problem getting her to do her homework, Kyte said.
Kyte only met Megan’s father, Tommy. She said she believed Megan didn’t know what a “normal” family looked like.
“This child has been traumatized,” she said. “She made bad mistakes that have to be paid for…I don’t think she’s irredeemable.”
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Mary Boswell, Megan’s grandmother, also testified. She said she’s known Megan her entire life.
“We loved her so we kept her a lot,” Mary said. “I love her like she’s my own.
The jury was dismissed and Megan was asked if she wanted to testify in her defense. She said no.
The judge was then notified about the media camera in court showing several members of the jury. The judge held the photographer in contempt of court, was detained and released a short time later.
Court resumed without a camera in the court but was replaced with a Zoom call for the media to use for the remainder of the case. A few more people testified after the break. When they finished, the judge gave the jury their instructions.
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Jurors spent the last week hearing testimony from investigators, viewing graphic photos and evidence of Evelyn’s body and hearing from people who cared about Evelyn.
The jury deliberated on the charges for a few hours before returning a verdict.
The jury spent the last eight days sequestered in a hotel, with no access to cell phones and limited television access. Judge Jim Goodwin told the court the nature of the charges, the notoriety of the case and the safety of the jury were the reasons he decided to isolate the jury for the duration of the trial.
On Wednesday, Megan told the judge she would not be testifying. Attorneys on both sides gave their closing arguments.
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Prosecutors told the jury during closing arguments they’ve seen Megan get emotional throughout this trial. Then, ADA Amber Massengill showed the jury pictures of Megan posting about Hunter and their new home.
“Meanwhile Evelyn is upside down in a trash can,” she tells the jury as she shows the photos. “Is she sad today? She has the gall to sit here and cry?”
“Her kid is upside down in a trash can and she’s at an aquarium with her new boyfriend,” she continued.
She said the defense tried to throw out theories about sudden and unexplainable infant death, reflux, a tongue tie and co-sleeping as possible ways Evelyn died.
Massengill said the only DNA found on the evidence was Megan’s and the only fingerprints found on the evidence were Megan’s. She said there isn’t a piece of evidence associated with anyone else.
The defense told jurors Megan’s ex-boyfriend, Hunter Wood, disposed of Evelyn’s body and the state hadn’t proved Evelyn was murdered.
“It’s not fair to say she murdered her child because she didn’t grieve right,” Attorney Gene Scott told jurors loudly. “I resent it!”
