RICHMOND, Va. -- A Richmond juryhas found one of three men accused in a shooting that left a nine-year-old girl deadguilty on all counts.
The verdict was delivered after just over an hour of deliberations.
Jesus Turner faced one count of first-degree murder, two counts of malicious wounding, and three counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Two other men, Quinshawn Betts andJermaine Davisfaced the same charges and were convicted, but on a lesser second-degree murder count.
Prosecutors alleged the three got into a shootout with another man at the basketball courts at Carter Jones Park on Memorial Day 2019 when hundreds of people were there for a cookout.
Nine-year-old Markiya Dickson was hit by one of the bullets and died. Two others, including an 11-year-old boy, were injured.
Day two of the trial featured six additional witnesses for the prosecution - a mix of people who were at the basketball court that night or officials involved in investigating the aftermath.
Turner’s attorney continued to question the eyewitnesses as to what they had seen and how their testimony differed from what they said in the previous trials.
In the closing arguments, much of the focus from the defense and prosecution was on whether or not the witnesses could be considered reliable.
In the end, jurors believe the testimony of the witnesses and convicted Turner on all counts.
"I'm happy it's over with, but that doesn't bring her back, but she gets some kind of justice and we will still keep saying her name," Markiya's mother said following the ruling.
"I'm just glad this part of it is over. And we get to move on and try to just raise our other two children and never forget about her, my baby," her father said.
