Nathaniel Fujita was found guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of his former high school girlfriend. On Thursday, the jury of eight men and four women rejected the defense’s argument that the Wayland teen was psychotic at the time of the killing and not criminally responsible.

Pictured: Fujita was flanked by William Sullivan, left, and Sabrina Bonanno, right, as the verdict was read Thursday in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn.

Fujita, right, entered the courtroom for the jury's verdict at his murder trial Thursday.

Prosecutor Lisa McGovern, right, hugged Mary Dunne after a jury found Nathaniel Fujita guilty Thursday.

As she hugged the slain teen’s mother, McGovern said “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Dunne was crying

Pictured: Beth Mattingly-Fujita, center, mother of Nathaniel, was consoled by her husband Tomo after their son was convicted of murder Thursday.

Fujita’s parents were silent as the verdict was read. But then the victim’s father, Malcolm Astley, walked toward them and put his arms out. The couple began sobbing, and all three hugged—the defendant’s parents and the victim’s father.

Fujita hunched over as autopsy photos of Lauren Astley were shown Wednesday.

Fujita and Lauren Astley graduated from Wayland High School. Fujita was accused of luring his 18-year-old former girlfriend to his Wayland home, encouraging her to park out of sight, and then strangling her, slashing her throat, and dumping her body in a marsh.

Fajita, right, stood beside his attorney William Sullivan as court was called into session during jury deliberations on Wednesday.

First-degree murder carries a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Appeal is automatic in a first-degree conviction.

Tomo Fujita, center, father of Nathaniel Fujita, waitd in a court following the day's jury deliberations on Wednesday.

Beth Mattingly-Fujita, center, mother of Nathaniel Fujita, waited in court on Wednesday.

From left, Lisa Ting, and Robyn Hunter, both of Brookline, friends of murder victim Laura Astley's family, wait edoutside a Woburn Courtroom during jury deliberations in the trial of Nathaniel Fujita, who was charged in the Wayland slaying of Astley, his former girlfriend.

Lauren Astley's father, Malcolm Astley, was embraced during a recess at the trial on Tuesday.

Nathaniel Fujita was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Lauren Astley on July 3, 2011.

Astley and Fujita dated for three years. Pictured, the couple on prom night. Fujita and Astley broke up in April 2011, and in the following weeks Fujita withdrew from friends and had seemed angry, authorities said.

Prosecutor Lisa McGovern holds a bungee cord around her neck to demonstrate how she said Lauren Astley was killed during closing arguments in Nathaniel Fujita's murder trial on March 5.

Prosecutor Lisa McGovern, left, gestures towards defendant Nathaniel Fujita, right, during her closing argument on March 5.

Psychiatrist Wade Myers demonstrated what he observed of the posture of Nathaniel Fujita's free hand, which he witnessed in a video of Fujita's booking, during his testimony on March 4.

Psychiatrist Alison Fife testified for the prosecution in the Nathaniel Fujita murder trial on March 4.

Mary Dunne, Lauren Astley's mother, broke down on the witness stand on Feb. 28, when prosecutor Lisa McGovern handed her a photo of her daughter.

State medical examiner Henry Nields testified on Feb. 28.

Massachusetts State Police crime scene analyst Erik Koester spoke in front of a diagram of Nathaniel Fujita's vehicle during his testimony on Feb. 27.

Melissa Marino, a digital evidence investigator for cyber enforcement with the Middlesex cistrict attorney's office described activity Nathaniel Fujita's Facebook page around the time of the murder of Lauren Astley, as Fujita, seated at center right, looked on during testimony in a Woburn courtroom.

Prosecutor Lisa McGovern, left, showed Ariel Chates, 20, a Wayland High School friend of Lauren Astley, the dress that Chates loaned Astley that was later recovered from Astley's body, during testimony.

More on Chates’ testimony

Prosecutor Lisa McGovern, right, held a blood stained towel during testimony by State Police Trooper Anthony Delucia, left.

An evidence photograph presented during Nathaniel Fujita’s murder trial on Feb. 25 in Woburn showed the bungee cord found with Lauren Astley's body in Wayland.

Defense attorney Michael Sullivan, left, pointed to text messages between Nathaniel Fujita and Lauren Astley from June 27, 2011, as Fujita, right, watched during the murder trial on Feb. 22.

Beth Mattingly-Fujita and Tomo Fujita listened to testimony during the murder trial of their son at Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn on Feb. 20.

Astley's best friend Genevieve Flynn, 20, broke down on the witness stand on Feb. 20 as she recalled the last time she saw her friend. Astley dropped her off after a sleepover, said Flynn, and then went to meet her dad before going to work.

Astley's mother, Mary Dunne, left the courtroom during the trial on Feb. 20.

Ronald Bolivar III, who had been a close friend of Astley and Fujita in high school pointed to a senior year photograph of himself, Fujita, and other friends, while testifying in Middlesex Superior Court on Feb. 20.

Beth Mattingly-Fujita (right) was embraced during her son’s trial.

Fujita (right) listened as State Trooper David Twomey testified on Feb. 20. Twomey said that when investigators searched Fujita’s home after Astley was killed, they found what appeared to be bloodstains in the kitchen and bathroom.

Retired Wayland High School science teacher Emily Norton, who taught Fujita and Astley in her environmental science class their senior year, testified on Feb. 19. Norton described Fujita as "very quiet."

Fujita (right) listened as his attorney, William Sullivan, cross-examined a witness on Feb. 20.

Wayland police Detective Christopher Cohen testified on Feb. 20.

Security camera footage of Lauren Astley getting on an escalator on July 3, 2011, at the Natick Mall where she worked, was shown in court on Feb. 19.

Retired Wayland police Sergeant Richard Manley pointed to a diagram of Fujita’s home in Wayland during his testimony.

Fujita's parents, Tomo (left) and Beth (center), were seen during a break in the murder trial on Feb. 19.

Judge Peter Lauriat gave instructions to the jury before visiting areas involved in the crime. On Feb. 15, jurors visited three locations in the Wayland area where evidence was found in the killing of Lauren Astley.

A view on Water Row in Wayland, where Astley's body was found. Jurors toured the site.

Local police and State Police stood outside the Fujita residence in Wayland on Feb. 15 before jurors toured the area.

Jurors also toured a garage where Astley was allegedly killed.

From left, a court officer, Judge Peter Lauriat, the court stenographer, and attorneys stood in front of the garage where Astley was allegedly killed in July 2011.

Boutique manager Maeghen Reineke said a distraught Beth Fujita, Nathaniel Fujita's mother, had a serious conversation with Astley at the Natick Mall, where Astley worked at a boutique, in the weeks before the teenager was killed.

Stephanie Boudreau, an assistant manager at Store 344, testified that she also saw the interaction between Beth Fujita and Astley.

Astley's co-worker Allessandra Chinetti testified that Astley had started seeing other people romantically and had gone out with someone the Friday before she died. Chinetti said Astley had spoken about Fujita and said she was worried about him.

The prosecutor in the trial of Nathaniel Fujita told jurors that Fujita killed his onetime girlfriend because he was humiliated when she broke up with him.

“Evidence will show you that the man you just heard sworn before you, Nathaniel Fujita, a man Lauren Astley had known and cared for, a man she had gone out with in high school for three years, coldly, cruelly killed her, because she wounded his ego,’’ prosecutor Lisa McGovern told the jury in opening arguments.

In opening arguments on Feb. 13, defense attorney William Sullivan said that when Fujita killed Astley, he was having a psychotic episode and did not understand what he was doing.

Wayland police Officer Seanna Lombardo described finding Lauren Astley's vehicle in the parking lot of the Wayland Town Beach on July 3, 2011.

Priscilla Antion described finding Astley's body in a marshy area off Water Row in Wayland on the morning of July 4, 2011.

Astley's mother, Mary Dunne of Weston, left the courtroom during a break in the first day of the trial.

Fujita appeared in Framingham District Court the morning of July 5, 2011, for his arraignment. He graduated from Wayland High School, where he was an accomplished athlete; his name appeared in the Globe as a Dual County League All-Star in track in March 2010.