Guilty as charged.

That's the verdict returned by the jury at the second degree murder trial of William Dwayne McDonald.

For Amedeo Awai, the father of murder victim Emmanuel Awai, the guilty verdict was bittersweet, “I miss Emmanuel so much he was a jolly man, a lovely man, that I looked at him at birth to the time he departed.”

Emmanuel was shot to death in December of 2016 while at a Connaught Avenue apartment.  Several weeks later 28-year-old William Dwayne McDonald was arrested and charged. 

After hearing all of the evidence in the case the jury returned with a guilty verdict in about 7 hours.  McDonald's lawyer is David Stoesser. “It was a lot of hard work and we're disappointed.”

McDonald will return to court on July 9th for a sentencing hearing

A second degree murder conviction carries a life sentence with eligibility for parole ranging from 10 to 25 years.