GERMANTOWN, Md. -- Two Maryland men were convicted Monday for murdering two Montgomery County high school seniors the night before their graduation.
After a month-long trial, a jury found Edgar Garcia-Gaiona and Rony Galicia guilty on multiple charges, including felony murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Garcia-Gaiona and Galicia were two of the four men arrested for killing 18-year old Artem Ziberov and 17-year old Shadi Najjar in June of 2017.
“They all came armed and they all fired shots,” said Montgomery County State’s Attorney, John McCarthy.
More than 31 shots were fired within seven seconds according to McCarthy. The bullets struck and killed Najjar and Ziberov, who were sitting inside a blue Honda Civic in a Montgomery Village parking lot.
They were both found by police inside the car, with the engine running and lights on shortly after the shooting.
Prosecutors said Najjar thought he was meeting someone to sell tickets to Northwest High’s graduation.
Najjar’s phone was taken by the killers because, “they set up this lured fake transaction using Snapchat,” McCarthy said.
Investigators said the motive was revenge. Najjar is accused of robbing someone connected to Jose Canales-Yanes, a third man tied to this case and sentenced to life in prison without parole earlier this year.
A fourth suspect, Roger Garcia, will go on trial at a later date.
Prosecutors are seeking life in prison without parole for Garcia-Gaiona and Galicia. They’ll be sentenced January 22, 2019.
