Man convicted in death of 6-year-old girl in New Mexico

LOS LUNAS, N.M. (AP) — A 24-year-old man has been convicted in the 2018 rape and strangulation killing of a 6-year-old girl who lived with her mother in a New Mexico home shared with at last seven other people. Six hours of jury deliberations end Friday evening with the conviction of Leland Hust for criminal sexual penetration of a child under 13 and child abuse resulting in death. Another jury acquitted Hust in 2021 of first-degree murder in the death of Ariana Jade Romero but deadlocked on the other two charges. Hust faces mandatory sentences of 30 years and 18 years on the two counts. A sentencing date was not immediately set.