Derrion Albert Beating Death: 2nd Person Convicted in Chicago Student's Death
CHICAGO (CBS/WBBM/AP) After three and a half hours, a jury found Silvonus Shannon guilty of murder in the beating death of 16-year-old Derrion Albert - an attack caught on video that has been seen around the globe.
PICTURES: Derrion Albert Beating Death Video
Again and again defense attorneys and prosecutors played the same graphic video of Albert being beaten to death - grainy, shaky and just a few minutes long.
The two sides disagreed about whether it showed that Shannon had kicked the Chicago high school honors student in the head. But it was enough for jurors to convict Shannon of first-degree murder on Tuesday night, making him the second person found guilty in the September 2009 attack.
Upon hearing the verdict, Shannon put his head down, cried silently, then put his head in his hands. Behind him, his family members hugged each other and cried, as did Albert's mother, who was sitting across the aisle.
Shannon faces a sentence of as long as 60 years in prison when he returns to court Feb. 14. Three more people still face charges in the attack that drew international attention when video of the street brawl was posted online.
According to CBS affiliate WBBM, Shannon and his lawyers contended he was acting in self-defense, that he was trying to stop the fight and that he fought only after he was attacked himself by a number of young men - including Albert.
Prosecutors disputed that account and contended Shannon's was the final blow in the fatal attack.
The video shows a group of young people kicking and hitting Albert. At one point, someone slams a board into Albert's head, then Shannon appears to prepare to kick the fallen teen. But Shannon told jurors he had no recollection of striking Albert.
The case marked the most vivid example of escalating violence that in a six-month period claimed the lives of more than 20 Chicago public school students. It also prompted President Barack Obama to dispatch top Cabinet officials to Chicago to discuss ways to quell the violence.
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE DERRION ALBERT MURDER ON CRIMESIDER