Christie Michelle Scott had a dazed expression Wednesday as she learned a jury had found her guilty of three counts of capital murder, a conviction that could result in a death sentence.

Scott, 30, was convicted of starting the fire at her Russellville home that killed her 6-year-old son, Mason, on Aug. 16.

She was convicted of committing capital murder for financial gain, committing capital murder during a first-degree arson and committing capital murder by intentionally killing someone younger than 14.

During the trial, which began June 8, prosecutors contended Scott started the fire to collect $175,000 in life insurance from her son's death, including a $100,000 policy she purchased the afternoon before the 2:30 a.m. fire.

Scott testified she is innocent and has no idea how the fire started.

After the verdicts were announced, Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing called Mason Scott's death the most heinous crime in the county's history.

"There's nothing worse than a mother murdering a child for insurance and because they didn't want him," he said.

Other than briefly glancing at her family and friends who had gathered in the courtroom, Scott, flanked by her defense attorneys, looked straight ahead as Circuit Judge Terry Dempsey read the three verdict forms. As county jail officials escorted her from the courtroom, Scott continued to look straight ahead, ignoring reporters' questions as she walked past.

Several members of Scott's family, including her husband, Jeremy, began to cry as she was being led from the courtroom.

More than 75 spectators were in the courtroom when the verdicts were announced. Paramedics and a nurse stood by in case anyone was overcome with emotion.

The jury of six men and six women deliberated for nine hours during three days before reaching the verdicts. Jurors will return to court today to hear a presentation from prosecutors and defense attorneys before recommending that Scott be sentenced to death or to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Rushing said he will ask jurors to recommend that Scott be sentenced to die by lethal injection.

Scott could become only the 11th woman to be sentenced to death in Alabama since 1973, according to the Washington, D.C-based Death Penalty Information Center.

Scott is the first woman in Franklin to be convicted of capital murder.

Rushing considers the conviction a bittersweet victory.

"It's not something you go celebrate," he said. "It's a different feeling all together. You feel vindication for the victim and you feel justice has been served for them. It's also a feeling that you realize someone is being held responsible for a death, and they may serve the rest of their life in prison or even be sentenced to death.

"It's not jubilation, but it's a big relief that the jury saw what we saw when we charged her with these crimes."

On Monday, defense attorney Robert Tuten, of Huntsville, told jurors Scott was innocent and that she had done all she could to save Mason from the fire.

Scott testified that after waking to discover her home was on fire, she attempted to rescue Mason but was unable to because of thick smoke and intense heat.

Rushing told jurors that Scott intentionally left the child inside the burning home.

Scott and her then 4-year-old son, Noah, were able to escape the burning home through a window in her bedroom. Noah Scott slept in his mother's bedroom the night of the fire.

Local, state and federal fire investigators who testified for the prosecution said the fire began on or around Noah Scott's bed. The boys shared a bedroom. Mason Scott's badly burned body was found on the bedroom's floor.

Investigators were unable to determine how the bed might have ignited.

Fire investigators who testified for the defense contended the blaze was accidental and began in a TV cabinet in the boys' bedroom. The defense investigators were also unable to say how the fire might have been ignited.

Tuten declined to comment as he left the courthouse, saying the trial is not over.

Scott's family also left the courthouse without commenting.

Scott remains in the county jail where she has been held without bail since her arrest in September.

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@TimesDaily.com.