This time, they cried tears of relief.
The mother and grandmother of tragic Danielle Thomas filled a Queens courtroom with their sobs Wednesday as the pretty brunette’s Ivy Leaguer former boyfriend was convicted of her murder.
“We’re very happy the verdict came out this way,” Thomas’ mom, Jaime Thomas-Bright, cried afterward, wiping away tears that had splashed onto her glasses.
Raised in a group home, but schooled at Columbia University and the University of Florida, convicted first-degree murderer Jason Bohn now faces a maximum of life in prison without parole when he is sentenced April 2.
It took a jury less than a full day of deliberations to reject a defense claim that Bohn suffered from “Intermittent Explosive Disorder,” and deserved a lesser conviction of manslaughter.
The trial’s compelling evidence included a prosecutor timeline proving that Bohn’s so-called “intermittent” explosion in the couple’s Astoria apartment on that night in June 2012, was actually a merciless torture attack lasting some 90 minutes.
Four of those harrowing minutes were captured on audio when the pretty Weight Watcher exec’s phone pocket-dialed a pal.
The fateful call went straight to the friends’s voicemail, recording Thomas begging for her life and crying, “Jason, I can’t breathe” as Bohn strangled her.
“He was in control,” jury forewoman Elena Rodriguez told The Post after the verdict.
Jurors also rejected Bohn’s claim that he was mentally ill because his mom, a Scholastic Publishing exec, had abandoned him as a child.
“It’s important when you’re a kid and growing up what goes in your life then, but for a 35-year-old man, it doesn’t determine what a 35-year-old man becomes,” Rodriguez said.
“The abandonment issues weren’t important — not for that situation.”
The trial evidence — and the evident anguish of Thomas’ family — made a deep impression, Rodriguez said. The juror added that she’d like to tell the grieving mother and grandmother, Juanita Hardgrove: “Danielle is with our heavenly father and will always be with her family forever.”
When Rodriguez announced “guilty” in a firm voice, the chubby Bohn, 35, stood impassively at the defense table, watching without apparent emotion.
Before the jury even entered the room to render its verdict, Thomas’ mother and grandmother Juanita Hardgrove — both from Danville, Ky., where Thomas was raised — began crying and holding each other’s hands.
Thomas had had an order of protection against Bohn at the time she died, after he beat her a month prior to her death.
“This is war,” he’d snarled afterward into her cellphone.
“I will hunt you down like a dog in the street.”