FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. -- After deliberating for around five hours, Forsyth County jurors returned a verdict in the Hernandez child abuse trial.
Matthew and Wilairat Hernandez were accused of four felony charges: two for cruelty to children in the first degree and two for aggravated battery-family violence. One set of charges related to fractures found in her ribs, and the other set for fractures in her leg and foot.
Before noon on Friday, the jury found the Forsyth County parents not guilty. Both have been cleared of all charges, and the courtroom exploded in applause in response.
While jurors sat in court to determine the family's fate for two weeks, defense attorney Catherine Bernard pointed out in closing arguments to jurors that the Hernandezes have fought this battle for nearly two years.
RELATED: The state took 2 Georgia sisters from their parents - why a community disagrees
The couple took their two-month-old daughter to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta on June 6, 2023, to determine the cause of several strange marks they had noticed on her body since she was born.
Their daughter Emma and her older sister Arya never came back home.
"We've lost out on watching Emma grow up. Her first steps, you know, potty training, her first words," said Matthew when reflecting on those early months of life.
For seven days, jurors saw pictures and X-rays while listening to doctors defend their position. Were Emma's injuries abuse, brittle bones, or a genetic disorder?
Doctors at Children's say they ruled out all medical possibilities before diagnosing Emma's injuries as abuse, and that even after seeing the results of other tests that followed, nothing has changed their opinion.
"Rib fractures, which are highly specific for abuse, corner fractures, which are highly specific for abuse, the bruise on the scalp - these are consistent with child physical abuse," child abuse pediatrician Stephen Messner told jurors.
The defense offered a series of possibilities that the family feels deserve a closer look, considering several witnesses testified Emma continues to have health problems.
"They was focusing on just to prove that we guilty. But nobody want to help her. I have to do something to protect her, to find out what's going on with her," said Wilairat, explaining why she and her husband fought so hard to get independent medical testing.
In closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Caroline Yi told jurors, "Never had I seen two parents who wanted so bad for their child to be sick." Without a medical injury she told jurors, they're only left with abuse.
The Hernandez case drew national attention after the organization You Are The Power got involved. YATP, a non-partisan network of activists focused on restoring individual rights, started raising awareness about the case and the challenge parents face in fighting these kinds of allegations.
"Arya at one point was drawing family photos and not including herself in it," said Matt Hernandez. "I've seen this little girl cry so many times, begging to come home."
YATP joined the Hernandez family in a social campaign and starting assisting them and other families in raising money for the legal fight. Throughout the trial, YATP members were in court, with the group's leader Spike Cohen attending the final days of jury deliberations.
When asked if the couple regrets taking their experience so public, Wilairat said, "I used to think about it. I was thinking, what if I just shut up?"
"Would this be done already or did we just upset the wrong people?" her husband added. "All we were doing was fighting for our family, so that has to be the right choice."
"Yeah, I think we did a great choice by by speaking out," Wilairat affirmed.