After more than two weeks of testimony from more than 40 witnesses, an Ada County jury took only a few hours Tuesday to find 22-year-old Jordan Everhart guilty of first-degree murder for killing his girlfriend's daughter last year.

Ada County prosecutors had told the jury that 18-month-old Alaija Corbin had fresh injuries to her feet, ankles and shins on Oct. 7, 2011 — the same night she suffered a fatal head wound.

They also said the toddler was shaken with such force that she had fresh tissue damage under her arms.

Everhart will find out in January how long he will have to go to prison. The crime of first degree murder is punishable by up to life in prison with no parole. A sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 8 in front of 4th District Judge Pat Owen.

Prosecutors said all of the injuries were caused by Everhart as he watched the toddler that night while her mother worked a double shift. Everhart was angry because the little girl wouldn’t go to sleep, prosecutors said, and he wanted to play Xbox.

Everhart’s attorney claimed that there was not enough evidence to show he hurt the toddler and asked the jury to begin deliberations not thinking about the death of a child, but by carefully considering all the evidence presented over the past several weeks.

Paramedics found the toddler unconscious and clad in a diaper on the floor of a trailer home in the 300 block of East 40th Street about 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 8, 2011.

When asked by a firefighter what happened, Everhart said the child fell backward and hit her head. He had told 911 dispatchers that a dog knocked down the little girl, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Jill Longhurst said.

Paramedics took Alaija to St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center, where she died.

Longhurst told the jury that forensic tests showed that the toddler was hit by a solid object hard enough to cause a fatal brain injury. When Everhart figured out the toddler was badly hurt, he first called his mom for advice, and then called the girl’s mother at work — both before he called 911, Longhurst said.

Defense attorney Gus Cahill said that Everhart called his mom first because she is a nurse.

Cahill told the jury that Everhart was “accused of committing a murder he didn’t commit.” He said the defendant was still dealing with injuries he sustained in a house fire years earlier and questioned whether Everhart had the physical strength to cause the toddler’s injuries.

Patrick Orr: 377-6219