The sobbing in the courtroom Friday was audible after the jury in an aggravated vehicular homicide case returned a guilty verdict.

As the family and loved ones in support of both Nathan Bloomfield, defendant in the case, and John Markel, the victim, shed tears, it was apparent there were no winners in this case.

“This was a tragic case,” Prosecuting Attorney Brigham Anderson said after the trial. “It was an unfortunate result of drinking and driving. It’s a tragic situation for both families and a great reminder why you don’t drink and drive.”

Friday was the conclusion of a two-day trial in which Bloomfield, 28, of Pedro, was accused of causing the death of Markel, 62, a friend and co-worker, in a June 29, 2012, car accident. Bloomfield was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.146, one and a half times the legal limit in Ohio.

The heart of the defense’s argument was that neither crash scene investigators nor anyone else could put Bloomfield in the driver’s seat that day.

During closing arguments, Scott Evans, Bloomfield’s attorney, asked the jury to disregard fact Bloomfield had been drinking.

“This isn’t about whether Nathan Bloomfield was drunk,” Evans said. “ … No one can say who was driving the car and the time of the accident. No one. There were no witnesses of the crash.”

Anderson, during a closing rebuttal, vehemently disagreed.

“It is about alcohol. It’s about drunk driving,” Anderson said. “A tragic event happened here, but it happened because of what? It happened because of the decisions he (Bloomfield) made. … And it caused the death of John Markel.”

Bloomfield was driving a 1995 Ford Mustang convertible, top down, when he lost control of the car on State Route 93. The accident happened at the 11-mile marker when the car skidded off the right side of the road, hit an exposed pipe in the ground and went airborne. The underside of the car hit a tree, which severely damaged the vehicle.

Both men were not wearing seatbelts and were thrown from the car. Markel was found under the car and tree limbs, his cause of death ruled as blunt force injuries to the head and neck, essentially an internal decapitation as the man’s spinal cord was detached from the base of his skull.

Bloomfield suffered severe head injuries and was in a coma for nearly two months. After Bloomfield was first indicted in the case, he was incompetent to stand trial, but was later restored to competency after treatment at a mental health facility, although, according to his attorney, only has an IQ of 66.

Following the jury handing down the guilty verdict, Bloomfield was taken into custody to the Lawrence County Jail.

Judge Charles Cooper set sentencing for Wednesday.

According to Anderson, aggravated vehicular homicide, a first-degree felony, carries with it a sentence of a minimum of three years to a maximum of 11 years.