ELMIRA (AP) -- An upstate New York jury has found a man guilty of murdering a pregnant 19-year-old woman.
Closing arguments in the murder trial of Arteamus Wells were heard Thursday morning. The Chemung County jury was charged and deliberated only briefly before delivering the verdict before noon.
The 35-year-old Wells was charged after Erin Jade Smith was found stabbed and strangled inside her Elmira apartment on Dec. 6. According to statements Wells gave police after his arrest, he stabbed her with a pair of scissors and strangled her with an electric cord.
Authorities say she was 19 weeks pregnant at the time. Relatives have said Wells isn't the father.
Wells, who broke up with Smith last summer, had been sharing the apartment with her when she was killed.
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