21-Year-Old Man Found Guilty in 2014 Beating Death of USC Chinese Grad Student

A jury on Thursday reached a guilty verdict in the trialone of four people charged in the beating death of a USC graduate student from China.

Andrew Garcia, 20, was accused of attacking 24-year-old Xinran Ji near the university campus while the electrical engineering student was walking back to his apartment on July 24, 2014. Convicted of first-degree murder, Garcia faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Three co-defendants — Alejandra Guerrero, 18, Jonathan Del Carmen, 21, and Albert Ochoa, 19 — were also charged in the violent robbery, which was captured on video. The assailants were armed with a metal bat and a wrench, prosecutors said.

Footage from surveillance cameras at Ji’s apartment building showed the bloodied victim returning home after the attack. His roommate found him dead inside their apartment the following morning.

On Oct. 13, Guerrero was found guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree robbery, attempted second-degree robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

“No outcome will bring back their son. But they don’t want their son to die in vain,” Rose Tsai, an attorney for Ji’s parents, said at the time. “They are very appreciative for our system to give them the justice they’ve been hoping for and deserve.”

Garcia is expected to be sentenced July 11.