Second guilty in slayings

A 29-year-old man accused of killing two men in an alleged rap war between West Coast and Midwest crews was found guilty Tuesday in District Court of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

A jury convicted Jason Mathis of killing rapper Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins, 24, and his friend Jermaine "Cowboy" Akins, 22, in Las Vegas. Prosecutors said Mathis and another San Francisco rapper, Andre "Mac Minister" Dow, 37, killed the victims in 2005 in revenge for an earlier slaying involving another California rapper.

A jury last week convicted Dow on the same charges in a separate trial.

Akins' mother, Daenita, attended both trials and broke down after the jury delivered the verdict Tuesday. She praised the jury's decision but said she still has to live with the daily pain of losing her son.

"It's not really over, but we got some peace," she said.

Prosecutor Josh Tomsheck said Watkins and Akins were lured here in 2005 by Dow, who promised them a meeting with rapper Snoop Dogg.

Video surveillance from the MGM, where the victims were staying, showed Watkins and Akins leaving with Dow several hours before the slaying.

After the men left the casino, they were found shot to death in Southern Highlands, where Mathis was staying.

Watkins was shot more than a dozen times, and Akins was shot in the legs and appeared to have been tortured.

Prosecutors said the men were shot primarily by an AK-47-style rifle but that they also had .38-caliber bullet wounds.

After the slayings, Mathis and Dow fled Las Vegas but later were arrested in California.

Marc Saggese, Mathis' attorney, argued that his client was not with Dow at the time of the slayings.

Saggese said phone records showed that Mathis made multiple telephone calls around the time of the slayings and immediately afterward, including a call to Dow.

Saggese said Mathis left a three-minute message for Dow, which Saggese said Mathis would not have done if he were standing next to Dow at the murder scene.