A talented student’s killer was convicted of first-degree murder and all related charges today when a Suffolk Superior Court jury saw through the “cloud of fear” that drove multiple witnesses to alter their testimony at trial, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.

The man who gunned down 18-year-old Herman Taylor III, LAMORY “LAWS” GRAY (D.O.B. 10/15/85) of Jamaica Plain, faces a mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole when sentenced Tuesday morning, Conley said. Jurors also convicted Gray of unlawfully carrying a firearm and unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm for the July 29, 2007, shooting that took Taylor’s life less than 500’ from his Crawford Street home.

“Everything Herman Taylor’s family tried to shield him from was in that courtroom,” Conley said. “Witness after witness claimed memory loss or altered their testimony to thwart justice. It’s a stark reminder of what Suffolk prosecutors face when they go to court each day.”

Evidence and testimony elicited by Assistant District Attorney Masai King proved that Gray was a member of the Heath Street gang when he undertook a mission to kill members of the rival H-Block group. At the same time, the evidence showed, Taylor – who lived in Roxbury but attended Belmont High School through the METCO program – was on his way home from a friend’s house.

The two crossed paths at about 6:00 p.m., when Gray called out to Taylor, engaged him in a brief conversation, drew a revolver, and fired twice, evidence showed. As Taylor tried to escape, Gray calmly placed his left hand over his right, which held the firearm. He fired twice more, striking Taylor once in the abdomen.

Taylor fell to the ground, mortally wounded. A Good Samaritan spotted him on the ground and drove him to Boston Medical Center, where doctors pronounced him dead of his injuries.

The evidence showed that Taylor was killed not because of who he was, but rather where he was, Conley said. Taylor was neither a gang member nor involved in the Heath Street and H-Block rivalry – he simply lived in an area plagued by violence committed by members of those gangs.

“There’s no better argument for the power of the Special Grand Jury to compel testimony than this case,” Conley said. “When three separate witnesses claimed not to remember what happened, we were able to confront them with their own prior testimony during the grand jury investigation that identified Herman’s killer. The jurors scrutinized that testimony for more than two full days and refused to be misled. They saw through the lies and intimidation and delivered a just verdict.”

King was second-seated by Assistant District Attorney Craig Iannini. Gray was represented by attorney James Budreau. Judge Frank Gaziano presided over four and a half days of testimony in courtroom 906.