BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) – Christa Worthington’s quest for happiness led her to a tiny Cape Cod town where she had spent summers as a child.

It was in Truro where she found what she had longed for during her glamorous career as a fashion writer: motherhood.

But just 2 years after her daughter, Ava, was born, Worthington was found dead in a pool of blood on the floor of her home, with her daughter clinging to her body.

It took nearly five years, but Thursday the jury’s verdict, relatives and friends say, brought justice for a 46-year-old woman whose dreams of motherhood were snatched from her too soon.

Christopher McCowen, Worthington’s trash collector, was convicted of raping and murdering her on Jan. 5, 2002.

When Worthington’s body was discovered, Ava was trying to nurse from her mother. Police believe the little girl had spent 24 to 36 hours in the house, as her mother lay fatally stabbed on the floor. “This is about a little girl, losing her mother, in the most heinous way imaginable,” Worthington’s cousin, Mary Worthington, said just before McCowen was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

Amyra Chase, a close friend of Worthington’s who is raising Ava, said the girl, now 7, has “emerged from that night as a bright, confident and engaging child.”

But Chase said she experiences every milestone in Ava’s life with a mixture of pride and sadness. “Christa was robbed of the privilege and delight of raising her daughter,” Chase said in a statement read before the sentencing.

McCowen, 34, was found guilty of first-degree murder, rape and burglary by a jury that deadlocked after five days and was forced to start deliberations anew Tuesday after one member was replaced.

“I never meant for this to ever take place,” said McCowen, who admitted to police that he had consensual sex with Worthington and beat her but maintained his friend killed her.

“All through this whole trial I sat here and I would think to myself ‘why me?’ … Your honor, all I can say is I’m an innocent man in this case,” McCowen added after thanking the judge and court officers for showing him respect during the six-week trial.

McCowen initially denied having any physical contact with her. But he changed his story several times after police told him his DNA was found on her body, admitting to sex and hitting her. He said his friend, who was never charged, plunged the knife through her chest. “We put the boots to her,” McCowen said, according to police.

McCowen cried as the jury came into the courtroom, and his attorney, Robert George, wiped tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his suit coat. McCowen bowed and shook his head “no” as the verdict was read.

One juror cried as the verdict was read, and she bit her lip and her voice quivered as she said “guilty” when she was polled by the court officer. Jurors jointly issued a statement saying they did not yet want to speak publicly about the case.

During the trial, George reminded jurors that police had focused on Worthington’s former boyfriends during a three-year investigation before arresting McCowen in April 2005.

Several of Worthington’s former lovers and male friends were considered early suspects, including Tim Arnold, an ex-boyfriend who discovered her body; Tony Jackett, a local shellfish constable who fathered Worthington’s daughter during an extra-martial affair; and Keith Amato, Jackett’s former son-in-law.

George said police only decided Worthington was raped because they could not believe that McCowen – a black, uneducated garbage man – could have had consensual sex with Worthington – a white, sophisticated woman who worked for years as a fashion writer in New York and Paris.

“The black man didn’t get justice, I really believe that,” said McCowen’s friend, Janice Randall, who has known him for five years.

George also said police failed to seriously consider a report from a neighbor who said he saw a white man driving a dark-colored van or truck speeding out of Worthington’s driveway about 12 hours after police believe she was killed.

After his client was sentenced, George told reporters, “Anyone who heard the evidence in the courtroom should have a reasonable doubt.”

The original jury in the case deliberated more than 28 hours over five days before declaring Monday they were deadlocked. Judge Gary Nickerson sequestered them and ordered them to keep trying, but on Tuesday removed a juror who was recorded talking to her jailed boyfriend about media reports of the case and disparaging police officers, raising concern about bias.

The juror was replaced, and the jury had to start anew their deliberations Tuesday afternoon.

At the time the judge removed the juror, the defense said the move destroyed his client’s chances for a fair trial.

After Thursday’s verdict, George said he had filed a motion seeking a subpoena to obtain the telephone records of the juror, Rachel Huffman, and her jailed boyfriend, Kyle Hicks. George also said he hoped to interview both to learn more about their recorded conversations.

George suggested Huffman may have been set up by police to receive the calls from her boyfriend just as the jury was about to be sequestered so prosecutors would have grounds to seek her dismissal.

“That’s what it smells like,” George said.