GUILTY: Jury convicts Kristen Smith, who kidnapped her newborn nephew

MADISON (AP) — Guilty! That's the verdict handed down Thursday, July 31st by a jury in the case of Kristen Smith -- accused of kidnapping her newborn nephew in February.

Smith, of Colorado, is now convicted -- after kidnapping her newborn nephew in Wisconsin and leaving him at an Iowa gas station in frigid temperatures.

The attorney for 31-year-old Smith said Thursday the government is misinterpreting her motives.

Kayden Powell

Prosecutors say she took four-day-old Kayden Powell from the Town of Beloit in February. As police closed in, she put him inside a plastic tote and left him at an Iowa gas station.

The baby survived, despite spending 29 hours in frigid temperatures.

Smith says Kayden's father asked her to take him because the parents were moving in with her soon.

Prosecutors say Smith was actually scheming to pass the boy off as her own.

Defense attorney Matthew Noel said Smith already has four children and a stepchild, so she'd have no need to steal a child.

Smith now faces 25 years to life in prison.