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Two men convicted in Raleigh girl's shooting death

A Wake County jury has convicted two men in the shooting death of a 13-year-old girl last year.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — A Wake County jury has convicted two men in the shooting death of a 13-year-old girl last year.

Rashaan Ali was convicted of murder and Ian Wattley was convicted of involuntary manslaughter late Monday afternoon. Jurors deliberated for the better part of a week before reaching the verdicts.

Gelnirys Ortega, a West Millbrook Middle School student, died when she was shot in the head on May 1, 2007, in a home invasion in the apartment she shared with her mother and several other people.

Prosecutors said she was in the wrong place when a group of men rushed into the apartment looking to collect $60,000 that a man staying in the apartment owed for drugs.

Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour will sentence the men Nov. 20. Ali faces life in prison without parole. Wattley could face about 16 months in prison and would get credit for the year he's been in jail.

Seven men were charged in Ortega's death. None of the other five has been tried yet.

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