Jury finds stepfather guilty of murder

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A State Supreme Court jury has found Ali Mohamed Mohamud guilty of second-degree murder charge.

State Supreme Court Justice Christopher Burns charged the jury and they began deliberations at 11:45 a.m. Burns instructed the jurors to decide if the prosecution proved that Ali Mohamed Mohamud caused the death of his stepson Abdifatah, and did so with the intent to cause his death.

After three hours, the jury filed back into the courtroom and announced their verdict: guilty.

 PHOTO GALLERY | Inside courtroom for closing arguments

While deliberating, the jury requested to see Mohamud's confession. After that, they requested to see the medical examiner's report. Since the report was not put into evidence, jurors were unable to receive a copy of it. They also wanted the definition of the second-degree murder charge.

With those items in hand, the jurors went back to the jury room and the three alternate jurors were dismissed.

With this verdict, jurors determined Mohamud intended to cause the death of his 10-year-old stepson when he duct taped his mouth shut, tied him with an electrical cord, and brutally beat him with a rolling pin more than 70 times, causing his skull to shatter and his head to be severed from his neck.

"The trial was really an excruciating process. The evidence was pretty horrifying. Today in the jury room, we were really very thoughtful. People were very concerned that we made the right decision. We wanted to be sure that what we were deciding was what the law actually told us to do. We were concerned with following the judge's instructions, but once we deliberated, we came to a unanimous decision without much difficulty," said juror Deborah Grine.

The defense attorney plans to file an appeal. Erie County DA Frank Sedita said he hopes Mohamud dies in jail.

He faces 25 years to life when he's sentenced on November 15.