A Fulton County jury on Monday convicted Atlanta attorney Claud “Tex” McIver of felony murder for the 2016 shooting of his wife, Diane McIver.

The jury also convicted Tex McIver of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and influencing a witness. The influencing a witness charge stemmed from what prosecutors argued were McIver's efforts to persuade Dani Jo Carter—who was driving the SUV when he shot his wife—not to talk with police about the shooting.

The jury of five men and seven women acquitted McIver of malice murder. Malice murder requires forethought as well as intent. Felony murder is a homicide that occurs during the commission of a felony—in this case aggravated assault.

The verdict came hours after Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Robert McBurney issued an Allen charge to the deadlocked jury in an attempt to push them toward a consensus.

District Attorney Paul Howard said McIver would be taken into custody immediately and sentenced at a later date. Felony murder carries a mandatory life sentence in Georgia.

At a news conference after court adjourned, Howard said, “Diane, we hope you are watching, and we hope you feel we stood for you.”

Billy Corey, chairman of U.S. Enterprises where Diane McIver was president, said the jurors “stood up for Diane today,” adding, “May Diane rest in peace.”

Executive Assistant District Attorney Clint Rucker, who led the prosecution, said he spoke to jurors after they convicted Tex McIver.

“They had a real plan about how they went about their deliberations,” he said. He said that although they appeared deadlocked, “They expressed to me they were happy about the fact the judge asked them to go back and finish their work.”

“They were very, very confident in their verdict,” Rucker said. The legal issue of intent “provided some challenges for them,” he added. “It took them a while to kind of dissect the language of the charge.”

Rucker also said he believes the jurors' decision to revisit the McIvers' Ford Expedition, and sit where McIver had sat while holding the revolver he fired “proved pivotal.”

McIver's sister, Dixie Martin, who was at her brother's trial every day, had no comment. Annie Anderson, the massage therapist who testified for the defense to say she had been unfairly maligned by prosecutorial innuendo to suggest she had a romantic or a sexual relationship with McIver, began sobbing and left the courtroom in tears.

Defense attorney Bruce Harvey said following the verdict, “There is no question” that McIver will appeal the conviction. “I do think it is a travesty in that it is the triumph of emotion over reason. It is a sad day for the rule of reason … I don't believe for a minute that Tex McIver deliberately shot his wife in the fashion that they say occurred, and I will never believe that, no matter what the speculation, innuendo, or other unproven emotional matters, and frankly, aberrant behavior [that took place] after the event occurred.”

He also questioned the practice of allowing jurors to pose questions to witnesses after the lawyers finished their examinations. Although the Supreme Court of Georgia has approved the practice, Harvey said that in a criminal trial, “I think it changes that Sixth Amendment dynamic. … It remains an issue, and will be an issue, I'm confident.”

In convicting McIver of murder, the jury rejected arguments put forth by his defense that Diane McIver's shooting on Sept. 25, 2016, was an accident rooted in a chronic sleep disorder that caused him to unintentionally fire his Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver while sitting in the rear seat of the couple's SUV.

They also rejected an alternative charge of felony involuntary manslaughter resulting from reckless conduct—a lesser offense McBurney added to the list of charges the jury could consider.

Tex McIver fired the gun as the couple was being driven home by Carter. The bullet pierced the front seat where Diane McIver was sitting. The McIvers were traveling on a midtown Atlanta thoroughfare at about 10 p.m. and had just stopped at a traffic light across from Piedmont Park when the gun fired.

The original jury was evenly split between men and women, but one male juror left the case during the trial's first week because of a family medical emergency.