A Suffolk Superior Court jury today acquitted a Hyde Park man of murder charges stemming from the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Roniel Marc but convicted him of three gun crime he committed during the fatal 2008 gun battle.

Jurors acquitted KEVIN LOUIS (D.O.B. 7/2/87) of second-degree murder but convicted him of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm. Louis will be sentenced for those offenses Thursday morning at 9:00.

For about a week and a half, Suffolk prosecutors introduced evidence and testimony indicating that Louis took part in a July 4, 2008, shootout in the area of Wood Avenue and Edwardson Street that claimed Marc’s life. Prosecutors alleged that Louis had a rivalry with Marc and his friends and brought a loaded 9mm handgun to the cookout with the intention of shooting someone.

Though he is not alleged to have fired the fatal shot, Louis was charged with Marc’s homicide under the same theory used to convict MANUEL ANDRADE for the 2007 homicide of Chiara Levin in Dorchester – that he took part in a shootout in a public place and was responsible for the death that ensued as a result.

“Where the defendant chooses to engage in a gun battle with another with the intent to kill or do grievous bodily harm and a third party is killed, the defendant may be held liable for the homicide even if it was the defendant’s opponent who fired the fatal shot,” the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts wrote in its 1997 decision in Commonwealth v. Felix Santiago.

Jennifer Sears was the victim-witness advocate assigned to the case. Louis was represented by attorney Christopher Belezos.