Man Found Guilty in Fatal Birthday Party Shootings

A Fort Worth man was found guilty Thursday in the April 2008 fatal shootings of two people at a child’s birthday party.

Erick Daniel Davila, 21, was convicted of capital murder in the deaths of Annette Stevenson, 48, and her 5-year-old granddaughter, Queshawn Stevenson, during a shooting spree at the grandmother's home in the Village Creek Townhomes.

Davila faces the death penalty or life in prison.

Annette Stevenson was shot as she threw herself over several youngsters, neighbors had said.

Several others were wounded that April night after a dark car pulled up and a man got out and began firing at the corner tan-and-brick duplex decorated with a "Happy Birthday" banner and balloons, authorities said.

The jury began hearing additional testimony Thursday afternoon to determine punishment for Davila.

Davila intended to kill the victims when he focused the semiautomatic rifle's scope and laser beam on a porch full of women and children and fired at least eight shots, prosecutor Tiffany Burks told jurors in her closing arguments.

Prosecutor Robert Gill reminded jurors of Davila's statement to police saying he was trying to get back at a rival gang that shot him in 2005, and about a gang expert's testimony that gang members often retaliate against rival gang members' relatives.

Defense attorneys Robert Ford and Joetta Keene told jurors that Davila did not intend to kill those two victims but at the most, he was guilty of lesser charges of murder or manslaughter. Ford said Davila went to the house that night looking for Annette Stevenson's son and Queshawn's father -- a man said to be a member of a rival gang.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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