Troy

Two years wracked with anger and sorrow for Vanessa Milligan's family and friends ended Thursday when a jury found her ex-boyfriend guilty of killing the 19-year-old Lansingburgh resident and their unborn daughter.

"These two years have been hell," said Nate Milligan, the slain woman's father. Waiting for the verdict was "scary," he said.

Gabriel Vega, 20, of Troy never looked up as the Rensselaer County jury convicted him of first-degree manslaughter, second-degree arson, third-degree arson and first-degree abortion. He was acquitted of second-degree murder. Judge Andrew Ceresia set Vega's sentencing for July 14. He faces at least 25 years in prison.

District Attorney Joel Abelove said his office would seek to have Vega serve consecutive sentences in an effort to put him away for 50 years.

"I hope he gets the max. I hope every time he goes before the parole board they remember this case," Nate Milligan said.

Family members' exhilaration of seeing Vega convicted on the fourth day of jury deliberations and after 2½ weeks in court was tempered by the way Vanessa Milligan and her unborn daughter, named Alina, died on the night of April 3, 2014.

Vega was convicted of going to Milligan's apartment at 271 Fifth Ave. in Lansingburgh where he strangled her after an argument, then set the building on fire with gasoline to cover up the crime.

That morning, Milligan's grandmother, Marilyn Houser, died at St. Peter's Hospital from cancer. Houser was like a mother to her granddaughter and the two lived together in the first-floor apartment.

While Milligan, who was a week away from giving birth, was coping with the loss of her grandmother, Vega was handling his angry girlfriend, Kim Virola, who had just learned that he had impregnated Milligan, according to testimony. Virola and Vega are the parents of a young girl.

Vega was indicted six months after the fire. In July 2015, Ceresia dismissed three of the seven counts of the indictment finding that there was no evidence to support first-degree murder, first-degree burglary and second-degree burglary charges.

Defense Attorney Frederick Rench was successful in getting the lesser charges of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter included as alternatives to the second-degree murder count.

Rench had attacked Virola's testimony that she went to the police months after Milligan's death claiming Vega confessed the killing to her.

In weighing the evidence, the jury asked to re-hear testimony from Virola, a playback of Vega's interview by Troy police detectives and readbacks of testimony of two other witnesses who interacted with Milligan during her last day.

Rench said his client was "very pleased the jury found him not guilty of murder. He maintains his innocence. We plan to appeal."

Milligan's aunt, Shannon Williamson, said, "I feel that he got away with murder."

Prosecutors said they wanted to talk to the jury — six men and six women — about their reasoning for the manslaughter conviction, but Assistant District Attorney Andrew Botts, who prosecuted the case, said, "I'll stand behind the verdict."

"It's a long time coming," said Nancy Houser, Vanessa Milligan's great-aunt, who had been overcome with emotion as she cried and hugged family members.

The fire consumed 271 and 269 Fifth Ave. next door, and the two buildings were later razed. Nate Milligan bought 271 Fifth Ave. for a memorial to his daughter and granddaughter. On Wednesday Michelle Polen, another of Milligan's aunts, prepared the heart-shaped memorial for a service that night.

"We got justice," Polen said. "We're not all happy. It might not have been murder, but we got manslaughter. She can rest."

kcrowe@timesunion.com • 518-454-5084 • @KennethCrowe