Calif. man convicted in slaying of park supervisor

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A California maintenance worker who lost his job has been convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his former boss, a city parks superintendent.

The Sacramento Bee reports ( http://bit.ly/15Ac9y6) jurors took less than two hours before returning their guilty verdict against 49-year-old Dupree Pierre Barber of Rancho Cordova. He's scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 28, when he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

Prosecutors say Barber shot and killed 59-year-old Cordova Recreation and Parks District Superintendent Steve Ebert at a park in January 2012.

Barber was among 18 district employees who recently had been laid off to close an $800,000 budget deficit. He also filed a racial discrimination complaint against the park district over his failure to be promoted within the agency. Ebert was named as a defendant in the suit.

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