Stewart found guilty in Hamilton Avenue killings

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The verdict is in for the second man tried in the worst mass killing in Indianapolis history.

Late Friday night, a Marion County jury convicted James Stewart on 23 of 24 counts against him. This following the June 2006 murders of seven members of the Covarrubias family - including three kids - in the North Hamilton Avenue murders.

Desmond Turner was convicted back in October and is serving life without parole. The jury reached the Stewart verdict after deliberating for about 11 hours Friday. The outcome was sweet for some and bitter for others.

"Justice does come. It may take awhile, but it does come in the end and I'm just happy for my family that we do get closer before Christmas. There's no way I could've gone through it again. I'm just happy that it's over," said Janie Covarrubias, sister and daughter of the victims.

James Stewart’s sister, LaTasha Stewart, said, "It's heartbreaking. I mean just for him to be just charged with something like this. If you knew him, you all don't know him, so you're just going by what the prosecutor says, but everybody who knows him, knows he did not do this. We just can't understand why he's going through this."

Stewart was found not guilty on one count of criminal confinement. Fourteen of the counts were for murder, seven for criminal confinement, one for felony robbery, one for possessing a handgun without a license and one for burglary.

On January 6 at 9 a.m., Stewart faces a bench trial on the habitual offender phase. That could add up to 30 years to his possible life sentence.