De'Marquise Elkins Guilty: Teen convicted of murder in shooting of Ga. baby Antonio Santiago
(CBS/AP) MARIETTA, Ga. - Eighteen-year-old De'Marquise Elkins was convicted of murder Friday in the shooting of a baby who was riding in a stroller alongside his mom in a town in coastal Georgia.
PICTURES: Ga. baby fatally shot in stroller
Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding Elkins guilty in the March 21 killing of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in Brunswick. The man's mother, Karimah Elkins, was on trial alongside him and was found guilty of tampering with evidence but acquitted of lying to police.
De'Marquise Elkins' attorney asked for bond for his client while they appealed, which a judge denied.
CBS affiliate WTEV reports De'Marquise Elkins faces up to life in prison and his mother faces up to 15 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Elkins killed Antonio in an attempted robbery.
The baby's mother, Sherry West, also was shot.
Another teen, 15-year-old Dominique Lang, is also charged with murder in the case and is scheduled to be tried at a later date. Lang testified against Elkins during the two-week trial.
Sherry West also took the stand during the trial. She testified she was walking home from the post office with Antonio in a stroller on the morning of March 21. She said a gunman demanding her purse shot her baby in the face after she told him she had no money.
The killing in the port city of Brunswick drew national attention, and the trial was moved to the Atlanta suburb of Marietta because of the extensive publicity locally.
During closing arguments, a defense attorney for Elkins said the investigation was flawed and police ignored other leads and suspects, while the prosecution said witnesses may have had shifting stories but video and other evidence doesn't lie.
The prosecution's witnesses - many with a criminal history and some drug users - lied repeatedly and changed their stories throughout the investigation, De'Marquise Elkins' defense attorney Jonathan Lockwood said in closing statements. The initial information that led police to Elkins came from a known crack user who initially gave a different name for the shooter, he said.
"You have to look past the dead baby and look at the facts in the case," Elkins' attorney Jonathan Lockwood told the jury.
Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson also urged jurors to look at the facts, saying the defense presented theories and speculation but that the evidence proves Elkins is guilty.
Complete coverage of Antonio Santiago's shooting death on Crimesider
