HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A Hillsborough County jury found Michael Keetley, a Ruskin ice cream truck driver, guilty of a 2010 shooting that killed two and injured four others.
Keetley was found guilty of first-degree murder for the deaths of Juan and Sergio Guitron, as well as attempted murder, Tuesday morning.
Keetley shook his head, visibly upset as the he heard the verdict.
Behind him, Paz Quezada, the Guitron's mother, wept.
"I'm taking finally justice for my kids. I can bring my kids back. I know my kids happy for me and I'm happy," Quezada said.
Quezada embraced family and friends following court. Afterwards, using a Spanish interpretor, she talked about life these last 12 years without her only children.
"He destroyed her life. She said that he broke her heart, but that he's going to pay for it now. He don't got time to do something else to someone else. It's a silver lining," they said.
Quezada clutched a picture of her sons in her hand. Nothing left to hold onto but her memories.
"This picture reminds her of the happiness they would have when they when they engaged in their hobbies especially low riding," her Interpretor said.
Tuesday's verdict was twelve years in the making. The case became Hillsborough County's longest standing criminal case.
"It is unusual, but for the last 12 and a half years, the state attorney's office, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, and especially the victims and their families have been working for today to bring justice and peace to those who've lost," said Assistant State Attorney Suzy Lopez.
The jury began deliberating Friday at about 4:15 P.M., spending about four hours together that day. On Monday, they returned from 8:30 in the morning to 5:30 that evening. Tuesday morning, it only took a couple more hours to finish.
"Today is about the victims, all six of the victims. And it is our offices hope and prayer, that today's verdict will begin to bring closure from the nightmare that they have all had to live for the last 12 and a half years," she said.
Keetley's sentencing is scheduled for May 26th.
Both sides presented closing arguments on March 24.
State prosecutors said Michael Keetley shot six men on Thanksgiving in 2010 and killed two of them. The state said Keetley was out for revenge. Keetley was robbed and shot in January of the same year.
Prosecutors said he became obsessed with finding the people who robbed him, took $12, then shot him multiple times, including in both hands.
They claim Keetley did his investigation, concluding that Omar 'Kreeper' Bailon was responsible for the robbery and shooting. The state claims Keetley impersonated a sheriff's deputy and forced the men to get on the ground and hand over their IDs before shooting them.
The defense said Keetley didn't kill the men. Instead, they allege the neighborhood was home to gang activity, including "Kreeper."
