MT. CLEMENS, Mich. — Instead of celebrating Joseph Jimenez's 24th birthday Monday, his friends and family held back tears as lawyers delivered closing arguments and jurors began deliberations in the murder trial of the man who killed him.

Prosecutor Steve Kaplan seized on the significance of the date as he urged jurors to find Noah Kuerbitz guilty of first-degree murder for fatally shooting the 23-year-old Jimenez on April 16.

Kaplan claims Kuerbitz, 23, and two other friends, Eric Larsen and Michael Yaek, had been drinking all day at Larsen's condo in Shelby Township when they ran out of booze just before a new episode of their favorite TV show "The Sopranos" was set to air.

The prosecutor said that when a sober Jimenez arrived, he volunteered to take Larsen and Yaek to the liquor store, but didn't want Kuerbitz to come along because he can be loud and often shoplifted when drunk.

The prosecutor said while Jimenez and the other two men went to the store, Kuerbitz "seethed" with anger. He allegedly loaded Larsen's .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun, hid behind a closet door, and jumped out and shot Jimenez in the back of the head.

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The prosecutor rejected Kuerbitz's story that the shooting was accidental because the defendant initially denied being the gunman to police.

"He's lying because he's a killer and he's trying to get away with it," Kaplan said. "There would be remorse if he accidentally shot his friend, but there was none because he wanted to shoot him."

Kaplan told jurors, "He showed no mercy to Joe, and you should show no mercy to him."

Kuerbitz claims he would never intentionally shoot his friend of 12 years. He contends that he accidentally shot Jimenez while was mimicking the gangsters on HBO's mob-themed show.

"It's an absolute disgrace to suggest he shot Jimenez because he was upset about not going to the liquor store," defense attorney Azhar Sheikh said Monday.

He said if jurors felt "compelled" to reach a compromise, they should find Kuerbitz guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

The defense attorney held a picture of Jimenez before the jurors and urged them not to seek eye-for-an-eye justice.

"One boy has already been taken away from his family, and I don't see what point it serves to take another boy away from his family," Sheikh said.

The jury deliberated for about two and a half hours Monday, and is set to resume Tuesday morning.

The jury has the option of finding Kuerbitz not guilty, or guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Kuerbitz will be automatically sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The verdict will be shown live on Court TV Extra.