JONESBORO, Ill. -- After six days of testimony for the prosecution, a circuit judge on Thursday acquitted Sacha Brown of the murder of her former boyfriend's 4-year-old son.

Brown, 32, had been charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery of a child younger than 13 and concealment of a homicide in connection with the Dec. 11, 2011, death of Justin Hepburn.

Brown's attorney, Larry Karraker, made an oral motion for Judge William Thurston to issue a directed verdict Thursday morning in Union County, Illinois, Circuit Court.

A directed verdict means the judge examines the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, then decides whether a finder of fact -- in this case, Thurston himself -- could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt based on that evidence.

"After looking at the evidence, after debating the evidence, after analyzing the evidence under the standard ... this court essentially goes, 'I don't know,' which by definition is reasonable doubt," Thurston said in acquitting Brown of the murder charge.

Because Thurston acquitted Brown on the murder charge, he also had to acquit her on the concealment charge, he said.

He also acquitted her on the battery charge, citing a lack of evidence to support it.

In considering Karraker's motion, Thurston reviewed the testimony of each witness, outlining the key facts presented and essentially taking the witnesses' statements at face value.

"The sufficiency of the evidence does not rise to the level that would support a verdict of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," Thurston said.

Watch for more on this breaking story at semissourian.com and in Friday's edition of the Southeast Missourian.

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