Minneapolis man convicted of murder in drive-by shooting

jury convicted a Minneapolis man of murder on Tuesday as part of a prosecution credited largely to the city's ShotSpotter camera system.

After deliberating about two hours, the Hennepin County jury convicted Christopher James Hayes, 24, of first-degree murder in a drive-by shooting and of second-degree intentional murder. The jury acquitted him of first-degree premeditated murder.

The first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory life sentence. Hayes was sentenced after the verdict.

He was charged in the September 2010 shooting death of Christopher Roy de Ronde, 21, of Bloomington, whose body was found on a sidewalk in north Minneapolis.

The victim was shot in broad daylight at Colfax and 30th Avenues N.. Authorities said Hayes' actions and those of another man speeding from the scene were recorded by the city's ShotSpotter system of cameras and microphones that detects and records video of the scenes of gunshots.