After deliberating more than 10½ hours Thursday, a Cole County jury convicted Calvin Hutson, 36, St. Louis, on four criminal charges lodged after the Dec. 27, 2012, killing of Andre Hudson, 41, Holts Summit.
Hutson's attorneys were given time to file a motion for a new trial and other post-trial motions, and Circuit Judge Dan Green said sentencing likely will take place later this summer.
The seven-man, five-woman jury found Hutson guilty of second-degree murder, attempted first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm.
All 12 members of the panel said those were their verdicts when polled by Green.
The jury's verdict announcement came about 15 minutes after Green had encouraged the panel to keep working at reaching a verdict. The foreman had sent a message that one juror was having difficulty reaching a decision.
Green read an instruction that said: "You should make every reasonable effort to reach a verdict."
Jurors also were told: "Do not be afraid to change your opinion, but don't agree to a guilty verdict unless you believe in guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."
Ultimately, the jury agreed with Prosecutor Mark Richardson, who told them during his closing argument Thursday morning: "This case boils down to a very simple case - this defendant decided he could do an easy "lick.'"
Richardson focused on the term "lick" as meaning a robbery and, while acknowledging that witnesses testified it could have more than one meaning, "In this context it meant a robbery, an armed robbery and that's what he intended to do."
The verdict rejected Public Defender Kevin Lorenz' argument that defendant Hutson and victim Hudson were meeting for a "drug deal," not a Hutson-planned robbery.
"Calvin Hutson set up a deal to buy marijuana from Andre Hudson," Lorenz argued. "We know that a disagreement ensues and we know that Andre Hudson shoots first, and that Calvin Hutson shoots back in self-defense."
But, Richardson told the jury: "In our law, you can't be the initial aggressor and claim self-defense."
He noted Hutson lied to police several times during the early investigation of the crime, including telling officers "he never had a weapon in his possession."
Lorenz argued that jurors should ask: "What evidence is there that this was a planned robbery?"
Evidence presented during the trial showed that the two men met on the Zesto parking lot, on Broadway Street just south of the U.S. 50-63 Expressway, about 7 p.m. on Dec. 27, 2012, then drove separately to a gravel lot on Schroeder Way up the hill.
There, Hudson left the red Chevrolet Silverado he'd been riding in, and joined Hutson in a Dodge Stratus.
A few minutes later, witnesses said the car was rocking, and then several shots were heard.
Hudson was killed by a bullet that entered his head by his eye and exited past his ear.
Boone County Deputy Medical Examiner Edward Adelstein, who conducted the autopsy, testified Wednesday that the concussion of that shot killed Hudson.
Hutson also was wounded.
Richardson noted police had reached the scene quickly, because the victim's wife, Marcy Hudson - who was driving the red SUV - called 911 right after the shots were fired.
Hutson faces a possible sentence of 10 to 30 years, or up to life in prison, on the murder conviction.