A Hopkins man has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death last year of an 18-year-old man in a Minneapolis park, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.
Chance Adams, 27, will be sentenced on June 13 to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years in the death of George Pineda. Adams was also found guilty of four other charges — second-degree intentional murder, second-degree unintentional murder, aggravated robbery and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
The jury reached its verdict in less than three hours after a two-week trial. "There was absolutely no reason for Mr. Pineda to be killed and his friend to be terrorized as Mr. Adams was committing his robbery," County Attorney Mike Freeman said in announcing the verdict.
Pineda and a friend were walking through Webber Park in north Minneapolis shortly after 3 a.m. on June 17, 2017, when Adams approached them, ordered them to lie on the ground and robbed them, then shot Pineda twice in the back, according to court testimony. Police arrested him a few blocks away.
The other robbery victim, a 17-year-old boy, escaped injury, possibly because Adams' gun had run out of bullets.
Pineda had graduated from Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis the week before his death.
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