BALTIMORE (Map, News) - After only four hours of deliberations, a Baltimore jury convicted Ronald Hinton of raping and then killing his 4-year-old cousin, Ja’Niya Williams.

Family of both Ja’Niya and Hinton listened intently in the courtroom as the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and rape.

“This was a tragic case,” Margaret Burns, spokeswoman for city State’s Attorney Patricia Jessamy, said after the verdict was

read.

“We are thankful for the jury’s time and pleased with the verdict.”

Hinton initially told police Ja’Niya had “fallen off the bed” in June 2006, but later confessed to raping and beating her in an upstairs bedroom — at one point chasing her downstairs to “retrieve” her, the charging documents said.

He also told police he used a belt to beat her. The victim suffered multiple injuries to the head, neck, chest and thigh.

But Jan Bledsoe, Hinton’s attorney, argued during closing arguments Friday that inconclusive DNA tests of bite marks to Ja’Niya’s body and underwear left room for doubt that Hinton was the murderer.

She also said semen on a washcloth found in a bathroom with DNA from an unknown male meant police should have questioned several other people living in the house with Hinton.

But prosecutors said the defense was trying to distract jurors from the facts, citing testimony from Hinton’s 7-year-old cousin that only he, Hinton and Ja’Niya were at the home when medical experts determined the girl suffered fatal injuries.

Prosecutors argued DNA testing was not conclusive because doctors’ efforts to save Ja’Niya’s life left other DNA on her body.

Hinton faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Because he is a juvenile, Hinton is not eligible for the death penalty.

Sentencing for Hinton is not yet scheduled.

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com