Photos by Jared Soares | The Roanoke Times

A Roanoke jury found Melanie Engleman guilty Friday in the stabbing death of William Christopher Linn.

Photos by Jared Soares | The Roanoke Times

Linn's family members react as the jury's verdict is announced Friday. "I'm glad to see justice was done," said David Thornhill, a cousin of Linn.

The once deadlocked jury had reached a verdict Friday afternoon after nine hours of deliberation.

Melanie Elaine Engleman had rarely lost her composure during her hard-fought three-day trial on a charge of first-degree murder, but as she waited in the courtroom for the judge to return, the 17-year-old cried. Beside her, defense attorney Chris Kowalczuk paced.

On the opposite side of the room, Christian Linn also wept as her mother and sister comforted her. Engleman maintained throughout the trial that she had fatally stabbed Linn's son, 19-year-old William Christopher Linn, in self-defense.

The prosecutors rushed to gather Linn's other family members and bring them in. Until they arrived, only the sounds of quiet weeping broke the tense silence.

Then Roanoke Circuit Court Judge Charlie Dorsey returned. After the jury filed in, many of them frowning, Dorsey read the verdict: "We the jury find the defendant guilty of second-degree murder."

Engleman began to sob.

Linn's cousins gripped his father's shoulders in silent celebration.

The teenager kept crying, looking at her family and mouthing, "I love you" as Dorsey ruled that she could continue to stay out on bond.

Outside, secluded with her family in one of the witness rooms, Engleman's cries were so loud they could be heard through the closed door. "I can't believe this is happening!" she wailed.

The verdict means the jury rejected prosecutors' assertion that the June 2 stabbing was premeditated -- but they also rejected the defense's insistence that Engleman stabbed her ex-boyfriend only because he was attacking her and she feared for her life.

According to Engleman's testimony, she and two friends went to the house of a girl Linn was seeing in order to confront the girl. Linn came out of the house, yelled at them, then asked to speak to Engleman alone. He then attacked her. She stabbed him once to drive him off, she said.

Engleman admitted to stealing a knife and having it ready in her hand when she went to the girl's house.

"Melanie is very disappointed, and I'm disappointed for her. I disagree with but respect the jury's verdict," Kowalczuk said. "This is a tragic and a terrible case for the Engleman and the Linn families. You have two teenagers' lives that have been destroyed."

Some of Linn's family members expressed irritation that Engleman remained out on bond but said they were pleased with the verdict. "I'm glad to see justice was done," said cousin David Thornhill, who said Linn was like a little brother to him.

Said Linn's father, William Fralin, "I'm just really happy now that my family can hopefully get some closure and lay my son to rest."

"I'm very pleased for the Linn family," said Alice Ekirch, senior assistant Roanoke commonwealth's attorney. She said it was hard for them to sit through the evidence that the defense put on, painting Linn as violent and abusive. In closing arguments, Kowalczuk asserted that Linn brought his fate on himself.

"I was surprised that he went so far as suggest that the victim, Mr. Linn, deserved to die and it was all his fault," Ekirch said. "Certainly Chris had his problems, but it was not the defendant's choice to decide to 'take care of him.'

"It's hard to argue self-defense when you leave the safety of your home and then you arm yourself with a weapon and then you seek him out, which is what she did."

She said Engleman was offered a plea deal before the trial but the defense refused. She declined to elaborate.

Kowalczuk also declined to comment on the plea offer.

He said that his point was not that Linn deserved to die, but that in his view, Linn had caused the fatal situation. "He was the aggressor," Kowalczuk said.

Though Engleman's trial was hard-fought, the intense legal battle likely is not over.

Because she is still a juvenile, her sentence will be levied by the judge, not a jury. At her May 4 sentencing, Dorsey could punish her with up to 40 years in prison. He also could sentence her as a juvenile, with no adult prison time. Or he could give her what's called a hybrid sentence, with elements of both juvenile and adult sanctions.

"This is a tragedy that has affected so many people," Linn's maternal grandmother, Mary Linn, said in a written statement. "We love Christopher dearly and are still mourning his death. We are grateful to everyone who tried very hard to save Christopher." She expressed gratitude to the jury for their efforts "in a very difficult case."