A jury found 17-year-old Nicholas Lindsey guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of St. Petersburg police officer David Crawford on Friday evening.
The judge wasted no time and sentenced Lindsey to life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Jurors deliberated for more than 3 hours after three days of testimony. Closing arguments were held Friday morning and the jury received the case around 2 p.m.
The verdict was read just before 6 p.m.
Lindsey showed no emotion, but his family members wept when they learned his fate.
At issue was whether Lindsey intended to kill Crawford. His attorneys conceded he shot and killed Crawford, but they argued the shooting was not premeditated. They asked the jury to come back with a verdict of manslaughter.
Jurors apparently didn't buy defense arguments that Lindsey, who was 16 when he committed the crime on Feb. 21, 2011, accidentally fired the gun and then panicked and shot Crawford multiple times.
Prosecutors mocked the idea, telling the jury Lindsey intentionally pulled the trigger.
Crawford's daughter, Amanda, told the court before Lindsey's sentence was announced that life in prison would be more than fair. She pointed out that if Lindsey wasn't a minor, he could have been sentenced to death.
"I will never see my dad or hear his voice," she said. "He was stolen from me. But Lindsey's family will always be able to talk to him, to visit him and be with him. I don't think it would be fair to let him go after a few years or even after a few decades."
Police chief Chuck Harmon called the sentence fair.
"It's a day, I think, we can turn the page on - a very dark day in our history - and move forward," he said. "That's what we hope to do."
Crawford's widow, Donna, watched the reading of the verdict, along with many of her husband's former colleagues. Afterward, she spoke.
Facing the court, but speaking to Lindsey, Crawford introduced herself and made a statement:
"To you, the animal that sits before me, and I lose this term very loosely, you claim to be this scared little boy who comes from the rough streets of south St. Pete, in a community that failed you. But let me tell you, I come from the same streets of south St. Pete ... low-income family and without many opportunities available to others.
"But unlike you, I didn’t carry a gun and shoot and kill another human being, nor blame anyone for my choices or actions. And you sit in this courtroom that was supposed to deliver justice. But to me. justice would be for me to do to you physically what you did to my husband.
"So the role you’ve been playing, scared little boy, be very afraid, because you’re going to prison, where people are tortured, raped and, yes, lose their life. And this time, mommy and daddy cannot run to your aid and help you.
"So, I want you to know when these things happen to you it, will still fall very short of the pain I feel every day for what you have taken from me. You are not worth remembering any more after I walk out of this courtroom today, except for the day I get to read your obituary, and then, maybe, I will find peace within this nightmare I relive every day."