HILLSBOROUGH N.C. -- A jury has found Ramone Alston guilty of murder in the first-degree.

• Ramone Alston guilty of first-degree murder, sentenced to life in prison.
• One-year-old Maleah Williams was killed in an apparent drive-by shooting.
• Shooting happened on Christmas Day 2015.

The verdict was announced Thursday afternoon, and shortly after, he was sentenced to life in prison.

Ramone Alston was charged in the death of 1-year old Maleah Williams.

UPDATE: 'He has nothing to lose': Manhunt continues for escaped convicted murderer in central N.C.

Prosecutors said Alston and his friend, Pierre Je Bron Moore, opened fire in a drive-by shooting at an apartment complex in Chapel Hill.

A bullet hit Williams and she died three days later.

Prosecutors argued Alston wanted revenge after he and his family were victims of a home invasion in 2014.

The defense argued, however, that Alston drove the car but that Moore is the one who opened fire.

Prosecutors were not going for the death penalty in the case. 

Alston is expected to appeal.

Moore also faces first-degree murder charges in the case. There's no word on when his trial will begin.