Karen Halstead, 46, faced two charges when her case reached a Henry County jury in Abbeville, Alabama: manslaughter and abuse of a corpse [1]. The state alleged that Halstead stored the remains of her deceased son, Logan, in a non-working chest freezer rather than reporting his death [1]. Before the jury returned its verdict, Circuit Court Judge Henry D. "Butch" Binford granted a directed verdict of acquittal on the manslaughter count, ruling that prosecutors had failed to produce sufficient evidence that Halstead contributed to Logan's death [1]. That ruling left the jury to deliberate solely on the corpse-abuse charge.
On May 20, 2026, the jury convicted Halstead on the single remaining count of abuse of a corpse [1]. The directed verdict on manslaughter, entered mid-trial, effectively resolved the more serious charge as a matter of law before deliberations began, a procedural posture that is comparatively rare in Alabama criminal practice [1]. The conviction on the lesser charge carries its own statutory exposure, though the sentencing date had not been set as of the verdict date [1].
Sentencing before Judge Binford is forthcoming [1]. The record as of the verdict does not reflect whether Halstead intends to appeal the corpse-abuse conviction, and no post-trial motions were reported in available sources.