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A gang member was convicted of the first-degree murder of a promising football player and high school student Jamiel Shaw Jr. Shaw was gunned down just outside his home more than four years ago.The jury deliberated about four hours before it came to its decision, according to City News Service. It found true the special-circumstance allegation that Shaw's killing was
carried out to further the activities of a criminal street gang.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for gang member Pedro Espinoza, 23, who prosecutors say gunned down Shaw because he mistook the colors of his Spiderman backpack for gang colors.
Espinoza is an undocumented immigrant who had been just been released from jail on a firearms charge before shooting Shaw. Shaw's family led an unsuccessful campaign to overturn Special Order 40, which prohibits officers from asking citizens about their immigration status.
