A Suffolk Superior Court jury today convicted the first of two defendants to be tried for the 2007 murder of Urel Duncan and the non-fatal shooting of a surviving victim, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Jurors found DEMETRIUS WARDSWORTH (D.O.B. 12/26/88) of Roxbury guilty of all indicted charges – first-degree murder, armed assault with intent to murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm – after about two full days of deliberations.

“The jury followed the facts, applied the law, and found the defendant guilty of murder,” Conley said. “But while these jurors have finished their work, we have not. We’re ready to move on to the next case.”

Wardsworth’s co-defendant, SHAWN “SHANKS” DAUGHTRY (D.O.B. 5/14/80), is scheduled to face his own trial for Duncan’s homicide next year. He is represented by attorney Barry Wilson.

Evidence and testimony introduced by Assistant District Attorney Gretchen Lundgren of Conley’s Homicide Unit proved that Wardsworth was one of two men who approached 60-62 Codman Park on foot shortly before 9:00 p.m. on Sept. 20, 2007. Present on the stoop of that address were the 29-year-old Duncan and a friend, then 19.

A surveillance camera close to the scene showed two men in hooded sweatshirts – one in gray and one in black, both with dark colored pants – producing firearms and pointing them at the victims, then fleeing the scene.

Less than an hour after the shooting, members of the Boston Police Youth Violence Strike Force stopped two men matching those descriptions. Subsequently identified as Daughtry and Wardsworth, they were both nervous and sweating; Wardsworth was visibly shaking. When separated and questioned, they gave contradictory statements and alibis that were later proven to be false.

Both men were released so police and prosecutors could continue the investigation. That investigation proceeded on the street and behind the doors of the Suffolk County Grand Jury, which indicted both men in early 2008.

Prosecutors said that neither Duncan nor the surviving victim was involved in gangs, drugs, violence, or any other crime. Investigators believe the gunmen simply targeted the first people they saw at the New Academy Estates housing development.

Wardsworth was represented by attorney Robert Galibois II. Jennifer Stott was the victim-witness advocate assigned to Duncan’s family. Judge Stephen Neel will sentence the defendant to a mandatory life term without the possibility of parole at 10:00 Monday morning in courtroom 806.