CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A man who said in 2013 TV news segment that he left behind his life as a gang member was convicted Tuesday of killing a Maple Heights convenience store clerk less than a year later in what prosecutors say was an attempt to join the Heartless Felons gang.

Slater Howell III, who told WEWS Channel 5 in May 2013 that people who turn to the streets will "either end up dead or in jail," now faces life in prison after a jury convicted him of aggravated murder and seven other counts in the April 7, 2014 killing of Babul Kumer Saha at the Prime Station on Granger Road.

Howell, 22, is also charged with shooting and killing Cleveland firefighter Theodore Wright less than a month after Saha's death. He has pleaded not guilty in that case and his trial has yet to be set.

He will be sentenced on Tuesday's conviction after his other case is resolved.

Prosecutors said at trial that Howell -- a former member of the Young Felons, a juvenile offshoot of the Heartless Felons -- sought to join the Heartless Felons in the spring of 2014. Part of the gang's recruitment requires hopeful members to commit murder, a process known as earning bones, prosecutors said.

Saha exchanged Facebook messages with his wife when Howell walked into the store, pulled out a pistol and almost immediately fired a single bullet into Saha's chest, Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Dan Cleary said.

Howell climbed over the counter, took money from the register and ran away, Cleary said.

Police released surveillance footage of the shooting to news outlets and asked for the public's help identifying the killer. Howell's ex-girlfriend sent Howell a link to the story in a private Facebook message and told him it looked like it was "going down," Cleary said.

She then posted the story on her public page. Howell got incensed when he saw the post, Cleary said. He went to her house and shot at her, but did not hit her. He was arrested the next day and eventually pleaded guilty to attempted felonious assault.

But prosecutors and police didn't charge Howell with Saha's murder until nearly two years later, when Howell's ex-girlfriend told them that Howell confessed to her. She testified at Howell's trial, and said he told her he killed Saha to "earn his bones" so he could join the Heartless Felons.

A jailhouse snitch also testified that Howell admitted to the killing after his arrest.

Howell also took the stand at his own trial and said that his girlfriend was herself a "queen" in the Heartless Felons, and had framed him as payback.

Howell was awarded an $85,000 structured settlement after his father, Slater Howell Jr., died in 2003, court records show.

Tatum wanted him to share the money with her, Howell testified. When he refused, they eventually broke up and she enlisted the help of other gang members to frame Howell for the killing, he said.

Howell is set to be back in court Sept. 27 for a pre-trial hearing on aggravated murder and aggravated robbery charges stemming from Wright's death.

Wright, a 32-year department veteran, was shot and killed while driving his truck about 3 a.m. on Classen Avenue. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office found cocaine in Wright's blood during his autopsy, records show.

Prosecutors say Howell tried to rob Wright, as well.

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