Man Convicted in Death of Joe Frazier's Kin

A Philadelphia jury has convicted a man in the shooting death of the step-grandson of former heavyweight boxing champ Joe Frazier.

Thirty-three-year-old Rodney Evans of west Philadelphia was found guilty Thursday of third-degree murder and other charges in the May 2009 death of 25-year-old Peter Lyde Jr.

Police say Evans and another man got into an argument after the other man sat on a bar stool Evans was saving for a lady friend, reports the Daily News.

The two men exchanged gunfire outside the bar where Lyde was working as a bouncer. Even though Evans’ antagonist fired the bullet that killed Lyde, prosecutors argued Evans was culpable because he took part in the shootout.

Evans could receive a maximum term of 31 to 62 years in prison when he’s sentenced on Sept. 9.

"In a case like this, in which you're trying the individual who started the series of events, it's always a difficult situation," Goodman told the Daily News. "But the most important thing is that the jury, in looking at the evidence, held him responsible for what he started out there."

Lyde was the stepson of Municipal Court Judge Jacquelyn Frazier-Lyde, the boxing legend's daughter.

"My son was our rock in our community and in my family," Peter Lyde Sr., Lyde’s father, told the Daily News. "He was stolen from us over a bar chair. That's very hard to accept when someone is stolen from you for nothing."

Police are still searching for the unidentified man who fired the fatal shot. The Lyde famiy has put up a $25,000 reward for information leading to the man’s arrest. To offer information call Philadelphia police at 215.686.3334.