Jurors on Wednesday found Jacob Alvarado, 19, of Texas City, guilty of capital murder in the shooting death of Colton Nowak, 19, during a home-invasion robbery.

Judge Patricia Grady of the 212th District Court sentenced Alvarado to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

Alvarado avoided a death sentence because he was 17 at the time of the murder.

The trial lasted eight days, beginning March 27, with Assistant District Attorneys Angela Kao and Shawn Connally representing the state and Alvarado represented by Christopher Henderson of Houston-based Henderson & Hall.

In the early morning hours of March 28, 2020, Alvarado, Mason Perry, 19, of La Marque, and Sean Greeness, 25, of Santa Fe, entered Nowak’s home at 402 Fifth Ave. N. brandishing guns and wearing masks and gloves.

The trio attacked Nowak and his girlfriend in their sleep and demanded money, according to testimony.

Nowak drew his own weapon and a gunfight ensued.

Nowak was shot 13 times, five times in the chest. His girlfriend was wounded, but survived.

Nowak shot all three of the assailants. Perry was shot three times, left at the scene and died in a hospital. Greeness, shot once in the chest, and Alvarado, shot once just below the neck, fled in a vehicle that crashed near Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay Refinery, 2401 Fifth Ave. S.

Greeness was found dead in the vehicle.

Truck driver Troy Spencer testified he encountered Alvarado, who claimed to have been robbed, and took him to the hospital.

Investigators used DNA from Nowak and communication on Perry’s phone detailing plans for the robbery to build the case against Alvarado.

“The jury came back very quickly and made the right decision based on the evidence,” Assistant District Attorney Kevin Petroff said. “They took their job seriously and we are happy with the result and thank them for their work.”