The families of murder victims James Cooper and James Kouzaris tonight said Shawn Tyson was "evil" and they had been given "a life sentence when our sons were so brutally and needlessly taken from us. Ours is a life sentence, with no chance of parole from a broken heart, and a shattered soul".
It took the jury of 8 women and 4 men about two hours to convict Shawn Tyson of murder in the first degree of James Kouzaris and James Cooper.
The 17-year-old, wearing a shirt and tie, sat emotionless as the verdict was read to the court, as did his mother Kenyatta Whitfield, in the public gallery.
A jury at Sarasota County Courthouse found 17-year-old Shawn Tyson guilty of two counts of first degree murder after James Kouzaris, 24, and James Cooper, 25, were gunned down when they drunkenly walked into a public housing estate in the Newtown area of Sarasota early on April 16 last year.
A US court has found Florida teenager Shawn Tyson guilty of murdering British tourists James Kouzaris and James Cooper in the US state last year.
Tyson was charged with two counts of first degree murder after allegedly trying to rob, then shoot dead, Kouzaris, 24, and Cooper, 25, in Sarasota.
Shawn Tyson's mother Kenyatta Whitfield has protested his innocence over the murders of UK tourists James Kouzaris and James Cooper, saying he was "framed".
The families of Kouzaris, from Northampton, and Cooper, from Warwick, were not at the trial, but friends Paul Davies and Joe Hallett attended.
The jury has retired to consider their verdict in the case of 17-year-old Shawn Tyson, accused of trying to rob, then shooting dead, UK tourists James Kouzaris and James Cooper in Florida last year.
Tyson faces two counts of first-degree murder and, if convicted, faces life in jail without parole.
Shawn Tyson's lawyer Carolyn Schlemmer denied there was a firm link between him and the murders.
She said Tyson was not around when the gun was cleaned, or casings dug up.
The jury heard Tyson can be convicted of first-degree murder because Kouzaris and Cooper died while he was trying to rob them.
Shawn Tyson's defence has argued many witnesses gave evidence in return for deals or benefits.
In closing arguments, defence lawyer Carolyn Schlemmer quoted comments by detectives and prosecution lawyers to witnesses.
She said Sarasota police said many people did not originally tell them the truth.
Prosecutor Ed Brodsky told the jury in Sarasota that Tyson's friend Latrece Washington had said he told her he had killed James Cooper and James Kouzaris.
She told the court Tyson told her one of the tourists cried for his life as his friend was shot, then was gunned down himself.
Prosecutor Ed Brodsky told a US jury the police probe into the alleged murder of UK tourists James Cooper and James Kouzaris by Florida teenager Shawn Tyson had just one "inescapable conclusion".
"That was that Shawn Tyson was responsible for the deaths of James Kouzaris and James Cooper," he said.