Following 30 hours of deliberations by the jury, 47-year-old software developer Michael Dunn was convicted of attempted murder, according to the Associated Press. Dunn was accused of shooting into a car of teenagers because they were playing their ‘thug music’ too loudly. The jury was unable to agree on the charge of first-degree murder.
Deliberations lasted more than 30 hours spread across four days. Dunn was found guilty on three counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of firing into an occupied vehicle.
The victim in Dunn’s attack was 17-year-old Jordan Davis, from Marietta, Georgia. The incident took place in 2012 during an argument about loud music coming from an SUV that Davis and three of his friends were inside at a convenience store in Jacksonville. Davis told his fiancee that the music was ‘thug music.’
There is a maximum sentence of 30 years for each attempted second-degree murder charge. The fourth charged Dunn was convicted of comes with a 15-year maximum sentence. A hearing will be scheduled for next month.
Lucia McBath, the mother of Davis, left the courtroom in tears following the reading of the verdict.
“We are so grateful for the charges that have been brought against him,” McBath said of Dunn. “We are so grateful for the truth. We are so grateful that the jurors were able to understand the common sense of it all.”
Ron Davis, the victim’s father, spoke about Dunn’s possible long sentence in prison. Davis said, “He’s going to learn that he must be remorseful for the killing of my son, that it was not just another day at the office.”
Dunn could be re-tried on a first-degree murder charge, according to State Attorney Angela Corey.
Judge Russell L. Healey said he received a note from the jury that said they could not agree on the murder charge filed against Dunn.
“I’ve never seen a case where deliberations have gone on for this length of time,” Healey said as he praised the jurors. “They’ve embraced their civic duty, and they are to be commended for that.”
During the trial, Dunn made claims that he acted in self-defense due to the fact that he thought he saw a gun pointed at him from inside the SUV. There was no weapon found after a search of the SUV.
The jury was told by Dunn that he was fearing for his life, saying, “this was a clear and present danger.”
He has a concealed weapons permit. Dunn fired 10 shots at the SUV, hitting it nine times. Davis was the only person inside the car hit by the shots. Dunn and his lawyer said that they will appeal the ruling by the jury.