A jury has found 22-year-old Chaze Lamar Thompson guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Dartmouth cab driver Sergei Kostin.

Thompson’s mother collapsed as the verdict was handed down in Nova Scotia Supreme Court Thursday afternoon, while another family member took his anger out on the media.

The Dartmouth man had little reaction and showed no remorse as the guilty verdict - a unanimous decision from the five women and seven men on the jury - was handed down.

“It’s good to know that the jury made the right decision and he’ll be off the streets with his smug little face, and we won’t have to see him for awhile,” says Marlene Holden, a friend of the victim.

Kostin, a 40-year-old native of Ukraine, worked for Bob’s Taxi in Dartmouth.

The court heard Kostin worked long hours as a cab driver to send money back home to his family before he was killed in January 2009.

Kostin picked up Thompson and his cousin - a key witness in the case - Wayne MacEvoy at a Dartmouth convenience store.

Testimony revealed Thompson shot Kostin in the back of the head, then hid his body and burned his cab.

Kostin’s cab was found burned out in North Preston a few days after he disappeared, although his body wasn’t recovered until April, about a kilometre away from the car.

Thompson was charged with first-degree murder in January 2010, a year after Kostin’s death, while MacEvoy was granted immunity for his testimony.

Kostin’s 11-year-old daughter provided the court with a victim impact statement:

“I still cannot believe I will never have my father,” it said. “I miss him and will always remember him.”

“Canada has let him (Kostin) down,” says Holden. “You’re supposed to come for a better life. Not come to work hard and be killed by some punk.”

In court, Thompson said he had been wrongfully accused and convicted and expressed his love for his mother.

“Mr. Thompson at law has the perfect right to maintain his position in his comments, but they continue to demonstrate, although he used the word ‘remorse,’ clearly he doesn’t have any personal remorse to what happened to the innocent Sergei Kostin,” says Crown attorney Rick Hartlen.

Thompson received an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl