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Alejandra Guerrero, 18, was the first of four teens accused of murdering a USC graduate student from China in 2014 to face trial. She was found guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree robbery and attempted second-degree robbery on Thursday, according to a release from the L.A. County District Attorney's office. The other three suspects—Andrew Garcia, 20; Jonathan Del Carmen, 21; and Albert Ochoa, 19—will have their trials in November. Guerrero, who was tried as an adult, is scheduled to be sentenced on November 28. She faces life in prison without parole.
Xinran Ji, 24, was killed after four people allegedly jumped him during a robbery on July 24, 2014. Ji, who had come to the U.S. from China to attend grad school at USC, was walking home from a study group just after midnight, alone. The group spotted him and later told detectives that they thought because he was Chinese, he would likely have money. They beat Ji as he tried to run away from them, eventually leaving him for dead. The group then went to Dockweiler Beach where they attacked two more people, who both survived. Ji managed to make it back to his off-campus apartment, but died of his injuries by dawn. His roommate discovered his body in the morning.
It was determined that Ji had been hit six times with a bat in the head, which fractured his skull, causing his brain stem to compress. It is believed that even if Ji had gone to the hospital instead of his apartment, he still would have died.
Deputy District Attorney John McKinney told the court at Guerrero's trial that she was "not your average 16-year old," according to City News Service. "Your average 16-year-old does not engage in savage behavior like this for fun, for kicks," he said.
