Prosecutors announced Tuesday that a gang member has been convicted of killing an innocent bystander outside a Minneapolis restaurant last year.

Marlon R. Robertson, 23, of Robbinsdale, was convicted of first-degree murder in the June 2013 slaying of Kevin Braziel. He was immediately sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The verdict was returned Monday afternoon following an 11-day trial. The jury also found him guilty of attempted second-degree murder of two men standing near Braziel. He also was convicted of witness intimidation for writing letters from jail asking for help in convincing witnesses not to testify.

"We are very pleased with the work of this jury," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said. "We finally have justice for Mr. Braziel, an innocent bystander, and for his family. And the hard work, under difficult circumstances, by Minneapolis police investigators and our prosecutors proves once again that we take all murders in this county seriously and we will root out gangsters no matter how long it takes."

Braziel, 21, of Minneapolis, was standing on the sidewalk in front of the Chicago Grill on West Broadway with two other men when someone fired eight shots from the alley behind the restaurant. Braziel died in a hospital nearly two weeks later.

Police determined that several friends of Robertson, all members of various gangs, previously had robbed one of the men standing with Braziel. The victim cooperated with police in that case and Robertson and his friends wanted him killed for cooperating, according to the criminal complaint.

DAVID CHANEN