ALAMOGORDO, N.M. — A New Mexico jury found a 16-year-old boy guilty of two murder counts and one count of voluntary manslaughter Tuesday for the shooting deaths of his parents and stepsister on a ranch owned by newsman Sam Donaldson.

Cody Posey was convicted of first-degree murder for the death of stepsister Marilea, who was 13 when Cody shot her twice in the head in July 2004, after deciding his world would "be better off" without his family.

He was convicted of second-degree murder for killing his stepmother, Tryone.

The jury found him guilty of a lesser count, voluntary manslaughter, for killing his father, Paul Posey, who Cody claimed abused him physically and emotionally from the time he was a baby up until minutes before the shootings.

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The seven women and five men of the jury deliberated 12 hours before reaching their verdict, and left the courthouse without commenting.

Tryone and Paul Posey with their children Marilea and Cody, in an undated photo.

Although Cody was tried in children's court, 12th District Judge James Waylon Counts could sentence him as an adult for the murder convictions. First-degree murder carries a maximum life sentence, with parole in 30 years, and second-degree murder carries a 20-year maximum.

After three weeks of evidence, which often put the victims on trial as abusive aggressors, emotions ran high as Counts read the verdict to a courtroom packed with Cody's supporters on one side and his victims' relatives on the other.

Cody, who was mostly poised throughout the trial, bowed his head onto the defense table and sobbed as his attorney hugged him. His aunt and custodial guardian, Corliss Clees, who has been a staunch supporter of the teen, collapsed weeping onto the floor at the front row of the gallery and was later carried out on a stretcher by paramedics.

Throughout the trial, the victims' families have bristled at the public support for Cody, which was evident even through deliberations as picketers marched outside the courthouse carrying signs that read "Free Cody."

Many of Cody's teachers, classmates and fellow ranch hands from his home in Hondo served as defense witnesses and corroborated claims that the Poseys abused their son with shovels, lariats, rocks, a hay hook and other implements of ranch life, as well as fists and demeaning words.

But Otero County prosecutors said the manner in which Cody carried out the killings reflected premeditated calculation and cold-bloodedness.

Corliss Clees, Cody Posey's aunt, wept after the verdict.

In a videotaped police statement two days after the shootings, Cody said the shootings occurred after an argument in which his father, who worked as a foreman on Donaldson's ranch, slapped him over cleaning the horse corrals. And the night before the killings, he said, his father tried to make him have sex with his stepmother, a claim his defense attempted to corroborate with evidence of "incestuous" pornography on his father's computer.

After weighing his options, Cody said he went to the barn to retrieve his sister's .38-caliber revolver, emptied it of snake shot and reloaded it with live rounds.

He then entered the family's home and shot Tryone first so she would be unable to call authorities.

As his father and stepsister came running into the house, Cody shot one after the other, shooting Marilea twice in the head as she wiggled on the ground, "so she wouldn't go tell or nothing."

He buried the bodies in a shallow grave of manure.

He then drove his father's truck into town, bought a can of Sprite and stayed with friends.

Donaldson was the first to come upon the grisly crime scene, where trails of blood marked the path from the point-blank shootings to the makeshift graves.

The jury also found Cody guilty of four counts of evidence tampering for his attempts to bury the body and cover up his crimes.

Following the verdict Tuesday, Verlin Posey, brother of victim Paul, said he felt the verdict was a compromise but was pleased that his nephew would remain locked up.

"One lifetime in prison is a pretty small debt for three," said Verlin Posey, who testified for the state that he never detected signs of an abusive relationship between his brother and nephew.

Cody's defense lawyer, Gary Mitchell, who became emotional at several times during the trial when speaking of the ordeals he believed Cody had endured, said the teen was unprepared for the verdict.

"Children never expect horrible things to happen. He thinks there's some sort of sense of justice in this world," said Mitchell in a tearful interview with reporters on the courthouse steps.

"We put the blame on a 14-year-old for the sins and omissions of the adults," Mitchell said. "This could have been prevented if those adults who stood by came forward, yet we expect him to act with greater courage."