A jury today found Demeatrius Montgomery guilty of first-degree murder in the 2007 killings of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officers Sean Clark and Jeff Shelton.

The first-degree murder verdict means Montgomery would face life in prison.

During the three-week trial, prosecution witnesses had testified Montgomery’s DNA was on the revolver found in the woods near the shooting scene at the Timber Ridge apartments in east Charlotte in March 2007. Experts said gunshot residue was found on Montgomery’s palms and that the handgun found in the woods fired the bullets removed from Clark’s head. Two prosecution witnesses also said they saw Montgomery running with a gun after they heard shots fired.

But Montgomery’s attorney, Duane Bryant, questioned the validity of the DNA and fingerprint evidence that prosecutors used to link Montgomery to the murders. And he reminded jurors that no witness claimed to have seen Montgomery pull the trigger. He pointed out that ballistic tests that pointed to Montgomery were subjective; there was no blood on Montgomery’s clothes; and witnesses gave conflicting descriptions of the man suspected of shooting the officers.

Read more at CharlotteObserver.com.

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