Shineka Gray was a grade-10 student of Green Pond High School in St James, who was found dead on February 1, 2017, due to multiple stab wounds.

Both Gregory Roberts and Mario Morrison were arrested and charged in connection to the killing. Morrison pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. Roberts proceeded to trial.

The verdict was handed down by the seven-member jury in the St James Circuit Court earlier this afternoon.

During the trial, the prosecution arguments centred on a case of revenge: Roberts killed the teenager to get back at an ex-girlfriend who he believed conned him out of some money and then had Morrison record the ordeal.

Roberts gave an unsworn statement from he dock during the trial, claiming that he was a hired taxi driver for his former co-defendant Morrison. But the prosecution showed telephone evidence of hostile messages between Roberts and his ex-girlfriend, as well as with her mother hours leading up to Gray’s death.

The jury was dismissed for deliberation and returned less than two hours later with a verdict of guilty. Roberts is to be sentenced on March 7.