Editing James Harris (section)

==Legal process==
Harris was committed for trial on October 13, 2015 by which time he was claiming a consensual sexual relationship with Wright and that after having sex with her an unknown assailant had killed her.<ref name=trian/> He struck a deal that dropped the death penalty in exchange for waiving his right to a jury trial, but rejected a plea deal offering a sentence of 50 to 100 years in custody.<ref name=philly2/> As a result in March 2017 he faced a 2½ day trial before Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Sandy L.V. Byrd and was convicted of murder, rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and burglary.<ref name=abc7/> He received a mandatory life without parole sentence as the murder charge was in the first degree, plus a consecutive total of 30 to 60 years for the other crimes.<ref name=philly2/> At sentencing he remained defiantly claiming Wright was his lover and her loss was as painful as that of his mother.<ref name=philly1/>