Video: Conviction In Singer Murder Case

Jesus C. Mezquia, a Cuban national most recently living in Marathon, Fla., faces 20 years to life in prison, said Dan Donohoe, a spokesman in the King County prosecutor's office. Prosecutors were trying to calculate a more specific range, which could be between 22 and 30 years, he said.

Mezquia was arrested in January 2003 in the Florida Keys after DNA evidence linked him to the Zapata slaying. He was charged in February of last year and brought to Seattle from Miami last March.

The jury deliberated for three days before returning the guilty verdict before King county Superior Court Judge Sharon Armstrong. Family and friends of the late singer wept in court as the decision was read.

Zapata, the 27-year-old lead singer of the Gits, was found dead on a street in Seattle's Central Area on July 7, 1993. She had been beaten, raped and strangled with the drawstring of her Gits sweat shirt.

An autopsy found evidence of a prolonged struggle. Zapata suffered blunt impact to her abdomen, and her diaphragm and liver were lacerated, court documents said.

The DNA that led to Mezquia's arrest was found in saliva taken from Zapata's breast, which "bore obvious signs of assaults and abrasions," court documents said.

"We're pleased with the verdict," Donohoe said. "DNA helps solve crimes and it is powerful evidence in court."

No sentencing date has been set, but will likely be in about a month, Donohoe said.