PORTLAND (AP) – A young man accused of fatally stabbing a teenager in an apartment building from which children had spilled water on the defendant’s brother was found guilty Friday of manslaughter.

Jurors in Cumberland County Superior Court deliberated for more than five hours before acquitting Brandon Mills, 21, of murder and finding him guilty of the lesser charge.

The manslaughter conviction carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Had Mills been found guilty of murder, he would have faced 25 years to life.

The prosecution argued that Mills stabbed Jarmaine Ramirez, 16, in the heart on the afternoon of Oct. 21 after children in the victim’s second-floor apartment poured water on Mills’ brother Antwane as he walked on the sidewalk below.

The stabbing took place during a scuffle in the crowded hallway outside the apartment, and the defense maintained that other possible suspects could have stabbed Ramirez, perhaps unintentionally, during the confusion.

The victim’s family said it was satisfied with the outcome, although it would have preferred to see Mills found guilty of murder.

“It’s better than a not guilty verdict,” said Bonnie Ramirez, mother of the slain teenager. “Jarmaine can now rest in peace.”

Defense attorney Daniel Lilley expressed disappointment at the verdict, saying it appeared that jurors concluded that Mills were responsible for Ramirez’ death, “but it was more spontaneous, not planned.”

The jury of eight women and four men began deliberations late Thursday afternoon after the courthouse was evacuated because of a bomb threat.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson told the jury that the best evidence against Mills is what he said and did after Ramirez slumped to the floor in the hallway.

When asked about what happened, Mills reportedly told his girlfriend, “The less you know the better.” He later wrote her a note that said he might never see her again, and took off for Boston, where he hid from police for five days.

“They run from the scene. Is that the kind of thing you do when you’ve done nothing wrong?” Benson asked. “Why, if he’s not guilty, does Brandon Mills go to Boston…? He goes to get away because he knows he stabbed and killed Jarmaine Ramirez.”

Lilley urged jurors to resist the temptation to “solve the case.”

He said that at least three other people might have stabbed Ramirez in the struggle outside the apartment, including the victim’s brother Herman, his sister Isabel Garcia and Mills’ brother Antwane, who pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

As for the letter, he said the evidence was too flimsy to convict.

“You are asked to consider that a love note he wrote to his girlfriend is an admission of guilt. It might be,” Lilley said. “But if you are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, might be’ isn’t going to do it.”

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