Per America’s judicial system, perpertrators should be able to fight for their case even after they have been found guilty. Unfortunately for Christopher McNabb, the walking meme was denied any chances of his life sentence to be overturned.

The Viral Video

In the viral video, McNabb is heard claiming his innocence in the brutal murder of his two-week-old daughter Caliyah. She was abducted in the middle of the night and beaten to death. She was then stuffed in a Nike bag found by the woods of the parents’ trailer home in Covington, Georgia.

“If you ever find out who did this, they deserve to be under the jail,” said McNabb. The judge asked if that meant the guilty party should serve a maximum sentence. When McNabb agreed, the judge bluntly responded with, “On the crime of malice murder, I sentence you to life in confinement without parole.” The video quickly circulated the internet since McNabb unknowingly chose his own sentenced and was tricked by the judge.

Fighting for Innocence

Social media users quickly made jokes about his facial tattoos and how he deserved to rot in jail. 

“He seems stupid enough that his life was probably f*cked long before he got those tattoos.”

Social media commenter

“All this fake crying and fake tears he did during the interviews about how much he loved his children and that he did in the courtroom are a joke.”

District Attorney Layla Zon

The defense attorney tried to challenge Mickey Kitchens, who was a crime scene investigator in the local sheriff’s office. He questioned why most of the evidence was never sent to state crime labs for analysis. Kitchens admitted that “some things were overlooked” and much of the evidence was compromised due to the sheer amount of people entering and exiting the trailer.

The defense attorney then claimed that ??”the whole sheriff’s department thought Chris McNabb did it from the very beginning”. This was due to McNabb’s looks, previous encounters with the law, and recurring drug use. McNabb was described to fidgety, “shady,” and “extremely nervous”.

McNabb’s New Trial

Despite restless attempts to prove innocence, McNabb’s new trial was unanimously denied by the Georgia Supreme Court. His charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, cruelty to children, and concealing the death of another will be upheld by court. McNabb will serve the full sentence.

On the other hand, Cortney Bell’s charges were overturned. Her lawyers successfully argued that there was zero evidence that directly tied Bell to the murder of Caliyah, whereas McNabb was found with green substances on his shirt. He appeared to have came from the woods where Caliyah was found.

“Because we conclude based on the facts of this case that the evidence was insufficient to authorize a jury to conclude that Caliyah’s death was not proximately caused by Bell’s conduct as alleged in the indictment, we reverse the judgement of the Court of Appeals,” Justice John J. Ellington determined. Ellington stated that evidence proved McNabb committed the violent crime after Bell went to sleep.

Although McNabb and Cortney Bell were both guilty of being under the influence of methamphetamines and had a violent relationship that negatively impacted baby Caliyah’s wellbeing, Bell was found not guilty of murder by Georgia Supreme Court. Charges including second degree murder and cruelty to children were fully overturned for the Georgia mother.