Lamar Skeete, 21, has been found guilty of the first-degree murder of Kenneth Mark.
Mark was reported to be a community advocate who tried to chase gangs out of his west-end neighbourhood.
On Dec. 29, 2009, Mark left a pizza shop when two individuals shot him from behind on Dundas Street near Gilmour Avenue.
Outside the courthouse on Friday, Mark's family said they were satisfied to see that justice had been served.
"Tonight we want to say that the criminal justice system finally worked, on Kenneth's behalf tonight," said Ian Mark, one of Kenneth Mark's brothers. "While my mom will not have her son back, while my brothers and sisters and I will not have our brother back, we take comfort in the fact that Lamar Skeete, that mother's bastard, will now face life."
Toronto Police Det.-Sgt. Justin Vander Heyden, who worked on the case, said the verdict was an important one for the Toronto police and, in particular, for the homicide squad.
Skeete was one of three men charged with first-degree murder.
The two others charged were both 16 at the time of the murder and could not be named due to their age.
Mark was 29 when he was murdered.
The jury had been deliberating since Tuesday.
