A Long Beach man, identified as Tremaine Lewis, has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 21-year-old Alicia Faith Todd, the Long Beach jury took a mere two hours to hand down the verdict on Wednesday. The young woman, found dead nearly nine years ago, was pregnant at the time, a fact that was believed to have complicated Lewis's life who was also the suspected father of her unborn child. Court documents indicated Lewis is facing up to 50 years to life in prison when sentenced on June 7, as reported by CBS News.

In a dramatic turn of events that harshly underscores the brutality of the crime, Deputy District Attorney Marlon Duke Powers claimed that "the defendant's entire world was changing in those 48 hours leading up to Alicia's death." The prosecution argued that the complexity of the situation drove Lewis to commit the heinous act. According to CBS News, DNA testing pinpointed Lewis with odds of 1 in 18 million.

Alicia Todd's body was found between Orange and Lemon Avenues following the shooting on June 24, 2015. Clutching a pair of keys and missing her cell phone, the details painted a grim image of a woman intending to return home, as outlined in the CBS News article. The defense, however, argued for Lewis's innocence, suggesting "not one piece of direct evidence puts the defendant there" where Todd was killed. Stephen R. Kahn, Lewis's attorney, implied that Lewis had no motive for murder because his girlfriend had prior knowledge of his relations with Todd.

The prosecution refuted these claims by asserting the slaying was a calculated response to Todd's pregnancy, evidence of which she had obtained just a day before at Planned Parenthood. "This complication in Tremaine Lewis’ life was solved with three bullets," Powers alleged in court. Todd, described by the prosecution as "no more than a side girl" to Lewis, became a victim where justice had long been awaited, as per the Long Beach Post.