In a matter of hours, a jury this week convicted a Harrisburg man of opening fire inside a city bar in 2022 and shooting another patron to death in the back.

Shawn Davenport’s trial lasted less than two days and he was found guilty Tuesday of first-degree murder in the Jan. 16, 2022, death of Xavier “Junior” King at The Cafe on Derry Street, according to Deputy District Attorney Landa Porter. .

During Davenport’s trial, prosecutors maintained that the 37-year-old man shot King, 32, three times in the back minutes after King entered the Cafe and paid a $10 cover charge.

Defense attorney Thomas Korey Leslie told jurors that Davenport shot King out of concern for your own safety.

“Why did Shawn Davenport shoot Xavier King? It was fear. Fear that had been instilled in Davenport. Emotional violence,” Leslie said during opening remarks.

But the jury didn’t buy it and found Davenport guilty after two hours of deliberation.

“We respect the jury’s verdict and are pleased that justice has been served for Xaiver King Jr. and his family,” Porter said in an email to PennLive. “We believe that all of the evidence taken together contributed to the jury’s verdict, but the video was a crucial piece of evidence that allowed the jury to see this case for what it was: first-degree murder.”

According to the video:

When King entered The Café, Davenport put down his drink, fiddled with his waistband and pulled up his hood as he followed King. Davenport then pulled out a black 9-millimeter Smith & Wesson pistol and fired three bullets into King’s back, the footage shows.

The first bullet lodged in King’s pelvis, the second in his chest and the last, fired as King fell, entered his neck and severed his brain stem.

Davenport soon fled the cafe and threw the gun into a trash can, prosecutors said. The motive for the murder is unknown.

Davenport’s probation officer viewed the surveillance footage and “almost immediately” identified Davenport as the man who had pulled out the gun and shot King, according to court records.

In addition to murder, the jury found Davenport guilty of prohibited possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license and recklessly endangering another person.

Davenport faces life in prison in light of the first-degree murder conviction. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 16 in front of Judge Deborah Curcillo.

King She loved fashion, travel, adventure and every child in the family, her sister. Aquitta King previously told PennLive. In her free time, she enjoyed hanging out with her nieces, nephews, godchildren, and others in her circle.

“His legacy will always be that he was a highly respected king,” he said. “He was a good man. But more than that, he always had royalty about him. And he showed it. Not just because of the last name. “It adhered to royal standards.”