NORWICH – The fate of accused murderer George Ford Jr. rests in the hands of the bench trial’s sole juror, Broome County Judge Joseph Cawley, who told the court he’ll render his decision at 3 p.m. Thursday.

Ford, 44, of Piscataway, N.J., is charged with second degree murder in the July 2007 death of his babysitter, 12-year-old Shyanne Somers of Otselic. Ford claims he accidentally ran her over while turning his truck around on Will Warner Road in the Town of Otselic. The prosecution says Ford murdered her in an effort to silence her over an unknown incident that happened between the two in the hours before her death.

Ford said he accidentally ran over Shyanne at around midnight on July 7, 2007 while District Attorney Joseph A. McBride asserts that a GPS tracker, placed in the defendant’s truck by his estranged wife, proves he killed Somers at around 3 a.m. after the two spent over two hours behind a vacant seasonal residence.

On the witness stand in Chenango County Court Tuesday, Ford said he retreated to the residence after the accident, not before, because he was in shock over the girl’s death and didn’t know what to do.