PONTIAC, Mich. -- A jury declared a 17-year-old accused in the shooting death of a restaurant manger in Lathrup Village not guilty during his third trial Tuesday.

The third trial for Jerome Hamilton began last month. Juries deadlocked in two previous trials.

Hamilton had been charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 15, 2008 slaying of 21-year-old Catherine Blain of Waterford Township.

Blain was killed outside a Lathrup Village Rib Rack restaurant, where she was a night manager.

Hamilton’s attorneys said the reason why both previous juries had trouble reaching a verdict was because the prosecution’s key witness was not credible.

Twenty-year-old Deandre Sturges of Beverly Hills was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to mandatory life in prison in connection with the shooting, too.

He also was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in a related robbery.

A third suspect took a plea deal in exchange for aiding prosecutors.