4th conviction in beating death of USC student from China

A 21-year-old man was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder in the beating death of a USC graduate student from China.

Albert Ochoa is the fourth person convicted in the 2014 attack on 24-year-old engineering student Xinran Ji.

Ochoa and three others attacked Ji while trying to rob him as he was walking home from a study group near the USC campus on June 24, 2014, prosecutors said.

Ji was beaten with a wrench and a baseball bat. After the attack, Ji staggered to his off-campus apartment and was later found dead.

Alejandra Guerrero and Andrew Garcia are serving life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder in the case. A third man, Jonathan Del Carmen, is serving 15 years to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

During Garcia’s sentencing last year, Ji’s father, Songbo Ji, sobbed as he told the court that his son was killed viciously.

“People our age are now prepping their daughters’ and their sons’ wedding, and their life is full of joy,” he said in Mandarin. “But every day instead for us we are paying tribute to our son, crying.”

Ochoa faces life in prison at his sentencing on March 8.

After the attack on Ji, prosecutors said Ochoa and the others drove to Dockweiler State Beach and robbed a man and a woman.

The jury also found Ochoa guilty of assault with a deadly weapon and robbery in that attack. Garcia and Guerrero also were convicted in that crime.