A 12-member New London Superior Court jury on Friday found LaShawn R. Cecil guilty of murdering Jaclyn Wirth, a stay-at-home mother, at her Norwich apartment on Dec. 14, 2011.

The panel of eight women and four men had started deliberating on Thursday morning and spent part of the day listening to playback of sections of witness testimony. They announced they had reached a verdict shortly before 11 a.m. Friday.

Wirth's family members gasped and wept when the jury foreman announced the verdict. The state's case had relied heavily on the testimony of jailhouse informants whose credibility the defense attacked throughout the trial.

"I'm so glad the jury saw through it," said the victim's aunt, Peggy Lufkin, who with her husband, Ron, is raising Wirth's two sons.

Lufkin clutched the turquoise-and-black checkered scarf that had belonged to her niece and tried for several minutes to control her emotions. She hugged prosecutor Stephen M. Carney and said she was grateful for the work of Norwich police, who "took it personally and never stopped."

"I'm so glad justice has been served," said Wirth's boyfriend, Michael Boyce, who is also the father of her youngest son. He said he still wants to know why Cecil would commit such a senseless crime.

Cecil turned to his family members, several of whom were crying, and told them he loved them as he was led into the courthouse lockup. He faces up to 60 years in prison for murder when Judge Barbara Bailey Jongbloed sentences him on April 7.

The judge next week will determine whether Cecil, who had a felony drug conviction on his criminal record, also is guilty of illegal possession of a firearm, a charge that did not go before the jury because it would have required them to hear potentially prejudicial information about Cecil.  

Wirth was home with her two boys in her East Baltic Street apartment when she was awakened by a knock on the door about 1:30 a.m. She was fatally shot when Cecil opened fire through the door with a 9 mm handgun, according to testimony. Norwich police questioned Cecil shortly after the crime but did not arrest him until 2015, when they renewed the investigation with help from the Southeastern Connecticut Cold Case Task Force.

The jury had listened to the 911 call that Wirth made as she lay on her apartment floor bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds and her oldest son begged her not to pass out.

Carney, the prosecutor, credited Inspector Rhett D'Amico with developing the state's presentation of the case.

"He worked with a case that was complex and dense," Carney said. "There were over 80 hours of video."

Also, Carney said, "I want to commend the hard work of the Norwich Police Department, Detective Kyle Besse, state police and the cold case unit for working this so hard. The police departments and the officers worked hard on this on behalf of Jackie Wirth."

Wirth's family, who lived through such a horrific experience, were decent from the beginning to the end of the case, Carney said.

"I think their conduct is a tribute to Jackie," he said.

Cecil's attorneys, Christopher Duby and Patrick White, were not immediately available to comment on the verdict.

k.florin@theday.com