After receiving a guilty verdict that carried a maximum of seven years in prison, a Missouri man took his own life by ingesting a cyanide capsule in front of a courtroom filled with friends, family, and witnesses. Steve Parsons had just been convicted of two felony counts of statutory sodomy of a 14-year-old girl when he took his sentencing into his own hands and committed suicide last Thursday.

Nodaway County Sheriffs believe Parsons slipped the cyanide pills past security by hiding them in his mouth. Further investigation after the incident revealed that he had purchased 100 grams of cyanide from an online store, Fox4KC reported.

"I can't speculate to what he was going through but I'm firmly convinced that his death was not a result of a wrongful verdict by the jury," Jerry Biggs, Gentry County prosecuting attorney, told Fox4KC.

"Well I was quite surprised and disappointed and unhappy and sorry. Sorry for the victim, sorry for her family. This was a girl who had been wronged and was determined and brave enough to make things right."

During the trial, Parsons' victim was forced to bravely take the stand and testify against her attacker. The victim's family was also present for the horrifying spectacle.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cyanide is a quick-acting, deadly chemical that comes in various forms including colorless gas (hydrogen cyanide or cyanogen chloride) and crystal form (sodium cyanide or potassium cyanide).

When ingested, cyanide prevents oxygen from getting to cells, resulting in the rapid death of cells in the body's major organs. Reports inside the courtroom said respiratory failure sent Parsons into a series of convulsions, shortly dying thereafter.