MIAMI – A teenager accused of fatally shooting a couple at a Miami Gardens gas station in 2011 was found guilty Friday evening.
Eric Ellington, 19, was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Julian Soler, 23, and Kennia Duran, 24, during a carjacking in July 2011.
Ellington was also found guilty of carjacking, trespassing and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. He was acquitted on one count of carjacking.
He was handcuffed and remanded into custody.
Assistant state attorney Alejandra Lopez called Ellington a cold-blooded killer during her closing arguments Friday.
"This defendant, while at that distance, while Julian is still with his hands in the air, stands above him with that gun and continues to shoot -- not once, but at least four to five more times," Lopez told the jury.
Lopez described in detail the evidence found at the crime scene, including Ellington's fingerprints. She also used the opportunity to once again show jurors surveillance video of the fatal shooting.
Defense attorney Herbert Smith cautioned jurors not to believe everything they see or hear.
"The issue is not how you feel about what happened," Smith said. "The issue is has the state proven with evidence."
Both victims' parents were in court.
So was Ellington's mother, who began crying hysterically and had to be escorted out of the courtroom.