HOUSTON—A Harris County jury on Thursday found Tim Shepherd guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Tynesha Stewart, last spring.

Shepherd was convicted of strangling Stewart at his apartment, dismembering her body, burning her remains on his patio grills and throwing them in a dumpster.

Stewart’s body was never found.

The jury deliberated for about four hours before returning with the unanimous verdict. Shepherd showed no emotion when it was read, but Stewart’s family burst into tears.

“I’ve known he was guilty, always,” Stewart’s mother, Gayle Shields, said. “You can run but you can’t hide. We had God on our side.”

Throughout the trial, which garnered international attention, prosecutors portrayed Shepherd as a classic batterer who killed the 19-year-old coed in a fit of jealous rage.

“He put her in the bathtub, he dismembered her there.  He washed away her bodily fluids down that bathtub. He barbecued her,” prosecutor Marie Primm said.

Stewart, a student at Texas A&M, was home for spring break when she was killed.

Her friends and classmates testified that Shepherd was a jealous, controlling man who threatened to kill her when she started dating someone else.

Shepherd’s attorneys insisted the relationship was not one-sided.

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Tynesha Stewart

“Tynesha was very much in love with Tim. She pursued the relationship, and he reciprocated,” defense attorney Chip Lewis said.

Stewart’s mother had taken the stand earlier in the week, breaking down as she described the last time she saw her daughter.

She said she knew something was wrong when she confronted Shepherd about Tynesha’s disappearance.

Shields said Shepherd refused to look her in the face, and said her daughter had gone out for a walk and never come back.

Community activist Quanell X also took the stand for the prosecution, detailing a confession Shepherd made about the crime.

He said Shepherd told him Stewart was dead, and he had thrown her remains in a dumpster.

“Tim never showed any remorse for Tynesha,” the activist said.

Defense attorneys claimed Quanell’s testimony actually helped their case.

“It clearly illustrated law enforcement’s repeated refusal to honor Mr. Shepherd’s request for a lawyer to be present,” Lewis said.

The evidence presented in the trial was nothing short of gruesome.

Shepherd’s neighbors became suspicious when they noticed the continual grilling going on at the apartment and smelled a foul odor coming from the grills.

Upon searching the apartment, investigators found Stewart’s teeth and what appeared to be bone fragments in the garbage disposal.

“It’s not every day you pull a bone from a drain or a tooth, so this is a case that will stay with us for a long time,” one detective said.

But because her body was never recovered, the defense claimed the evidence in the trial did not add up.  Lewis told the jury the only just verdict was not guilty.

In the end, the jury disagreed.

Stewart’s family said they hope the loss of Tynesha will save other lives.

“She will awaken people in abusive relationships to get out,” sister Gayla Shields said.

The punishment phase of the trial lasted for the rest of the day Thursday. It will resume Friday.

Shepherd could face up to life in prison for the crime.