Jury reaches verdict in Philip Chism murder trial

Chism stared straight ahead and did not have any visible reaction as the verdicts were read in Salem Superior Court.

Philip Chism, now 16, was 14 when he killed 24-year-old Colleen Ritzer, a Danvers High School math teacher.

Prosecutors alleged Chism used a stick to rape the young woman while in the woods, but a jury found him not guilty of that charge.

He was found guilty of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated rape, including natural and unnatural rape and armed robbery.

As the verdicts were read, Chism displayed the same appearance he maintained in court throughout the trial, staring straight ahead without emotion. A status date in the case is set for December 22.

A MA teenager has been convicted of raping and killing his high school maths teacher.

“He was an unusually tall African American boy in a predominantly white school who had no place to hide”, said Regan.

“This guilty verdict, while the beginning of justice for Colleen, is certainly no cause for celebration because there can never be true justice for the crime committed”, said Tom Ritzer. “There remains a tremendous absence in our lives, one that sadly can never be replaced”. “To celebrate our love for her and in recognition of the many lives Colleen touched and continues to influence despite the enormous loss we are forced to endure, we will carry on and do our very best to find the good in every day”. “We will not allow Colleen’s death to define how she’s remembered”, he told reporters.

Ken Yuszkus/AP Chism was found guilty of murder on Tuesday, a day after a jury began deliberating.

Philip Chism is charged with raping and killing Colleen Ritzer in 2013.

“He didn’t choose to do this”.

But a defense attorney says the then 14-year-old Chism was in “the throes of mental illness” when he killed 24-year-old Colleen Ritzer in 2013. The court had earlier found Chism competent to stand trial.

Jurors were shown chilling surveillance video from the school that shows Ritzer walking into the bathroom, then Chism following her and putting on gloves.

“The only still image that matters in this case is the image of Colleen Ritzer in the woods”, MacDougall said.

Chism’s lawyers admitted that when he was 14 years old he killed and raped his high school math teacher.

Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall told the jurors that doing something very bad doesn’t make you insane.