CROWN POINT | Stefen Rice was found guilty Friday of reckless homicide for the 2006 shooting death of 16-year-old Sade Brookshire.

A Lake Criminal Court jury reached its verdict Friday after about six hours of deliberations. One juror broke down and cried as she told the judge her verdict after the jury was polled.

Rice, 18, of Gary, faces two to eight years in prison, and up to a $10,000 fine when he is sentenced Nov. 6.

Rice was "in shock" after the verdict, his attorney, T. Edward Page, said. Page argued it was an accidental shooting.

"Stefen and his family are devastated, as am I," Page said quietly. "I know how hard this decision was for the jury and I thank them for giving long and careful consideration to the case."

Sade Brookshire was one of four teenagers sitting in the back seat of a car when the gunshot rang out in the early morning hours of Dec. 30, 2006, outside the McDonald's at the intersection of Fifth and Grant streets in Gary, police have said.

The 16-year-old Gary girl died that morning of a gunshot wound to her chest.

Rice, who was 17 at the time, was waived to adult court on the felony reckless homicide charge.

Witnesses testified to Rice's shock when the gun went off in his hand while he was sitting in the passenger seat of the car.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was loaded," Brookshire's best friend Darleshia Biddings told the jury earlier this week, quoting Rice's words after the shooting.

Deputy Prosecutor Joe Curosh told the jury that Rice was pointing the gun at the teenagers in the back when it went off.

"I still feel it was an accident more than reckless homicide," Rice's uncle Jerome Gilbert said after the verdict. "I feel he was extremely sorry. It has been hard for both sides."