It didn't take long for a jury to find a Rome man guilty of murder. Robert Coffin convicted on charges second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon, on the same day he testified in his own defense. The prosecutor in the case tells Melissa Krull how he believes that justice has been served. 

UTICA, N.Y. -- Before the verdict came in, Robert Coffin, the man accused of shooting and killing Thomas Shepherd Jr., had a chance to speak for himself.

"That first shot I had no clue about," Coffin said. "That second shot I remember only because it jolted me, and then the third shot was like, 'you just basically tried to hurt me.' I figured it was shot because my ears were ringing and I didn't hear it, I didn't know about it. It was like so spontaneous."

Last August, Coffin said he was outside Sammy G's Bar in Rome to see his ex-girlfriend. Prosecutors said Shepherd wanted to protect her.

Coffin claimed Shepherd approached his car, was aggressive and had a pocket knife. Coffin had a gun.

"Thomas had his hand on the gun the whole time. I told you I tried to use his momentum to push him away and go back into my car. As I did the third push, like it was three pulls, as I'm doing the third one a gun must have went off and at the same time I hit one across the parking lot. It was like a whole, in-one, action," said Coffin.

Coffin admitted he had been drinking and taking the drug Molly that night.

A surveillance video recorded the incident, and several pieces of evidence were presented in court, including the alleged weapon.

"The reason we believe it was murder is because all of the evidence that we put forth, obviously he thought he was justified, but by I think by looking at the video, you can clearly see Mr. Shepherd grabbing his face, leaving that situation, and the defendant ultimately just walking up behind him and putting a gun to the back of his head and ultimately shooting him," said prosecutor Michael Nolan.

Coffin declined his attorney's suggestion to ask for a lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter. Thursday evening, the jury found Coffin guilty of both second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

"I'm very happy for the Shepherd family, and his mother and aunt, and friends," Nolan said. "I know this has been a long road for them. It's been over six-months since this happened. I'm hoping they get some solice and some closure because of this verdict."

Coffin's attorney declined to comment. Coffin will be sentenced in May.