The family of a young shooting victim wept with relief yesterday over guilty verdicts in his homicide, while the relatives of one of the young men convicted stood startled in a courthouse hallway.

The family of Drew Pritchett, convicted yesterday of first-degree murder in a 2007 drive-by shooting on the North Side, believes that had he testified the jury would have acquitted him.

"Drew was afraid to testify because of the repercussions for him and the family," said his uncle Derrill Pritchett, 58, following the verdict. Drew Pritchett has been in protective custody for two years at the Allegheny County Jail with the exception of a short period when 10 men came into his cell and assaulted him, according to his mother, Patricia Alexander and jail Warden Ramon Rustin.

Family members of the victim, Terrance Monroe, 27, of Brighton Heights, cried or sighed when the jurors returned with first-degree murder verdicts against Mr. Pritchett, 20, of Brighton Heights, and Dorian Peterson, 18, of Manchester.

The prosecution said Mr. Pritchett drove the rental car involved in two shootings Sept. 13, 2007, and Mr. Peterson fired the sawed-off .22-caliber rifle traced to the wounding of an 18-year-old man on North Charles Street and the killing of Mr. Monroe about five minutes later on Morrison Street.

Assistant District Attorney Steven M. Stadtmiller said the two were looking to make random hits on young men in rival gang turf.

Family members of the slain man said Mr. Monroe, an unemployed computer technician and a dutiful uncle to six nieces and nephews, was on kidney dialysis and had no gang affiliation. His family has lived on the North Side for five generations.

Mr. Pritchett's family said he had just graduated from Perry High School, started classes at CCAC and was considering a career in real estate.

Had he taken the stand, his relatives said, he would have said he borrowed the car to practice for his driver's test. He offered a ride to one friend who brought along two others. Then, according to the relatives' account, he gave up the driver's seat and was stuck in the back while Mr. Peterson and two others did the shooting.

Jurors heard a different account from one backseat passenger who took the stand.

The witness, who was reluctant to testify and had been shot at after he spoke to police about the slaying, testified that Mr. Pritchett was driving and Mr. Peterson fired the murder weapon.

Under cross-examination, he changed his story, claiming that his cousin, a witness who did not show up to testify in the case, was actually driving the car. DNA evidence indicated that the cousin could have touched the car's steering wheel, but all three other occupants of the car were ruled out as contributors of the DNA.

In addition to the murder convictions, the jury of 10 women and two men found Mr. Peterson guilty of attempted homicide and conspiracy in the non-fatal shooting; Mr. Pritchett was found not guilty of attempted homicide but guilty of conspiracy for attempted homicide. Each was also convicted of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and a weapons violation.

A fingerprint on the clip of the gun matched Mr. Peterson's print and bullets from the two victims matched the gun left in the front passenger seat of the rental car.

Both defendants face mandatory sentences of life in prison without parole at their sentencing on Feb. 1.

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