Woman, 18, found guilty in 2014 beating of USC grad student

A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury on Thursday found an 18-year-old woman guilty of murder in connection with the 2014 beating death of a Chinese graduate student at the University of Southern California, the District Attorney’s Office announced.

The woman, Alejandra Guerrero, was charged with being one of four persons who attacked 24-year-old Xinran Ji of China, an electrical engineering student at USC, shortly before 1 a.m. on July 24, 2014. Guerrero, who was 16 on the date of the attack, faces a penalty of life in prison when she returns for a sentencing hearing scheduled for Nov. 28, the District Attorney's office said in a statement.

The jury also convicted Guerrero on one count each of robbery, attempted robbery and assault with a deadly weapon for a second attack on a man and woman at Dockweiler State Beach that occurred two hours after the deadly attack on Ji. 

Authorities said Ji was attacked with a baseball bat and a wrench as he walked to his off-campus apartment after a late-night study session at USC. Despite being badly beaten, Ji ran from his attackers and returned to his apartment in the 1200 block of West 30th Street. He was found dead in his bed by a roommate at about 7 a.m. the next day.

Ji's death renewed concerns about the safety of Chinese students at USC, where two other Chinese graduate students were murdered in 2012.

The remaining three defendants in the attack — Jonathan Del Carmen, 21; Andrew Garcia, 20; and Alberto Ochoa, 19 — are awaiting trial. Prosecutors said they are not seeking the death penalty against Garcia and Del Carmen, while Ochoa and Guerrero are not eligible for the death penalty.