STATEN ISLAND — A man who featured on Staten Island's "most wanted" list has been convicted for the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old, District Attorney Michael McMahon announced.
Mark Ortiz, 20, was found guilty of murder and criminal possession of a weapon after a week-long jury trial for the 2015 shooting of Barry Lovelace in a West Brighton apartment, McMahon said.
"Mark Ortiz turned a gun on his own friend and pulled the trigger, killing him in a senseless and heartless act of violence," McMahon said in a statement.
"With this jury trial conviction, Mr. Ortiz has been found guilty on all counts and will now be held responsible for this brutal murder. We hope this conviction provides closure to the victim’s family."
On Feb. 16, 2015, Ortiz was inside an apartment in 806 Henderson Ave. when he fired four rounds with a semi-automatic pistol while Lovelace sat on a couch. Then Ortiz fled from the apartment.
A witness told police that Ortiz was in the apartment before the shooting and Lovelace identified Ortiz as his killer right before he died, prosecutors said.
Weeks after the shooting, the DA's office put Ortiz on its "most wanted" list and he was eventually arrested in March 2015.
Ortiz faces a maximum of 24 years to life in prison for the charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 8, prosecutors said.
