A Roxbury teen faces a mandatory life sentence today after a Suffolk Superior Court jury convicted him of murdering 15-year-old Soheil Turner on a busy Boston street corner last year, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Less than an hour into its first full day of deliberations, the jury found XENIYEJU CHUKWUEZI (D.O.B. 4/4/91) guilty of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm for shooting Turner in the back of the head as Turner waited for a bus to school on the morning of May 7, 2009. Though murder one carries a mandatory life term without the possibility of parole, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Linda Giles scheduled a formal sentencing hearing for 2:00 in courtroom 806.

“A 15-year-old boy’s life was snuffed out as he did what thousands of teenagers do every day,” Conley said. “He stood waiting for a bus to school. His life and all his potential ended when a coward walked up and shot him in the head for no good reason at all.”

During seven days of testimony, Assistant District Attorney John Pappas of Conley’s Homicide Unit proved that Turner left his Eustis Street that morning and headed for the corner of Adams and Dudley streets, where he bought a honey bun and a bag of potato chips at the Nunez Market. He was alone and unarmed.

The evidence showed that Chukwuezi also left his house that morning and headed to the same location. Unlike Turner, however, Chukwuezi was carrying a loaded .380 caliber semiautomatic handgun in his right pants pocket. Chukwuezi stood across the intersection from Turner and waited for a short period of time.

Shortly after 7:00 a.m., the evidence showed, Chukwuezi crossed the street and engaged the younger boy in a brief conversation. Turner showed no outward signs of apprehension during that verbal exchange. Soon, with no provocation, hesitation, or warning, Chukwuezi reached into his pocket, produced the handgun, and fired twice. One shot went straight through Turner’s head, killing him.

Unbeknownst to Chukwuezi, Pappas showed, the entire incident was captured by surveillance cameras on two nearby buildings. The footage was corroborated by the testimony of multiple witnesses – including a young woman who knew Chukwuezi, saw him on Adams Street that morning, and acknowledged him as he headed toward the scene of the murder.

Boston Police homicide detectives located Chukwuezi later that morning and attempted to interview him at Boston Police headquarters. The interview was soon terminated when he indicated he did not wish to speak with them. In the days that followed, detectives undertook multiple interviews with witnesses at the scene and people who lived and worked in the area. They recovered the video footage and obtained an eyewitness identification of Chukwuezi by the young woman who saw him that morning. Chukwuezi was arrested on May 19 and indicted about six weeks later by the Suffolk County Grand Jury.

Catherine Rodriguez was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Chukwuezi was represented by attorney John Moss.