Madison County teen found guilty in girl’s death

  HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) - A Madison County jury has found
17-year-old Michael Steger guilty of reckless murder in the 2007
shooting death of a 16-year-old girl.
    Steger was 14 at the time of the North Huntsville shooting that
killed Jamie Collier.
    The jury returned the verdict around 11 a.m. Thursday. Under
sentencing guidelines, Steger could face 20-99 years in prison, or
possibly a life sentence.
    Collier died from a single bullet fired some 30 to 60 yards
away.
    Steger testified Wednesday that he ran inside his girlfriend’s
house to find a weapon after a street brawl and found the rifle. He
said the gun went off accidentally as he was raising it.
    Collier was a A Lee High School student whose first cousin was
killed in a fatal school bus crash a year earlier.