Man convicted in schoolyard slayings

NEWARK, N.J., May 24 (UPI) -- A jury in Newark, N.J., Monday convicted one of the defendants in the slayings of three college-bound students in a schoolyard.

The jury found Rodolfo Godinez guilty on 17 counts of murder, robbery and related charges, The (Newark) Star-Ledger reported. The eight-woman, four-man panel had started deliberating last week following a four-week trial.

Godinez, 26, who is to be sentenced July 8, is one of six defendants charged in the Aug. 4, 2007, slayings of Dashon Harvey, 20, Iofemi Hightower, 20, and Terrance Aeriel, 18. Aeriel's 19-year-old sister Natasha was wounded but survived.