MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A Manhattan jury needed just over five hours to find Natavia Lowery guilty of the fatal beating death of ex-Ramones manager and celebrity realtor Linda Stein on Tuesday.
Lowery, who was employed as Stein's assistant, was convicted of second-degree murder and faces up to life in prison.
The speedy verdict comes after a month-long trial that featured testimony from roughly 40 witnesses, including Stein's two adult daughters.
Prosecutors said during the trial that the 28-year-old Lowery viciously beat Stein with a yoga stick on Oct. 30, 2007. She also stole nearly $30,000 from her employer by abusing her access to the realtor's credit card accounts.
Lowery confessed to killing Stein about a week and a half after the murder, but her lawyers argued the videotaped confession was coerced during an overnight interview with police.
The trial was at times emotional and drama-filled.
On two occasions Lowery attempted to fire her defense team and replace them with a new attorney. Members of Lowery's family were enraged at the judge's decision to require Lowery's three lawyers to proceed with the case, and they were escorted from the courtroom, shouting and calling the ruling "bulls***."
