Prison Tower, Photo: Shutterstock.com

A New Castle County jury has found one inmate guilty of murder following the four-week trial of three men charged in the killing of Lt. Steven Floyd during a prisoner uprising at Delaware's James T. Vaughn Correctional Center last year.

The 12-member jury late Tuesday found Dwayne Staats guilty of first-degree felony murder and murder of a law enforcement officer after three days of deliberation in the first of several planned trials stemming from the violent takeover in February 2017. Staats, who admitted to planning the takeover to protest prison conditions, was also found guilty of riot, kidnapping, assault and conspiracy.

Co-defendants Jarreau Ayers and Deric Forney were both found not guilty of the most serious charge of murder. Ayers was convicted of the four lesser charges. Forney, who denied any involvement in the uprising, was acquitted on all charges.

A spokeswoman for the court confirmed the verdict Tuesday evening.

The verdict came at the end of three days of deliberation, during which jurors had asked for multiple clarifications on the legal definitions they were considering, according to media reports. An alert went out to reporters shortly after 4 p.m. that the jury had reached a verdict.

Carl Kanefsky, a spokesman for Delaware Attorney General Matt Denn, declined to comment.

Prosecutors in the case had described the “coordinated violence” of the 18-hour ordeal and identified Staats as having taken credit for masterminding a plot to overtake the prison's C-Building.

Three guards and a prison counselor were taken hostage during the ordeal. Floyd, a veteran corrections officer, was found handcuffed and face-down under a pile of debris after the building was finally cleared in the early hours of Feb. 2.

Prosecutors had relied on the testimony of 11 inmates to build their case against Staats, Ayers and Forney, but the defendants pointed to a lack of physical evidence tying them directly to Floyd's killing. They also challenged the credibility of the state's witnesses, suggesting that the prisoners may have taken deals to avoid criminal prosecution.

Forney was represented by attorney Ben Gifford, who was assigned by the Office of Defense Services. Staats and Forney, who are already serving life sentences, elected to represent themselves at trial.

A fourth defendant, Roman Shankaras, was severed from the case over disagreements with the way his assigned attorney, Jason Antoine, was handling his defense. Shankaras is expected to be tried again at a later date.

Eighteen inmates in total have been charged in connection with the prison takeover. Sixteen, including Staats, Ayers and Forney, were charged with multiple counts of murder. The remaining inmates are expected to be tried in groups over the coming months.