HAYWARD, Calif. -- A parolee was convicted Monday of brazenly gunning down a mother of six, who was wearing a traditional Muslim head scarf at the time she was fatally shot while walking her toddler to school on a Fremont street.

The jury found Manuel Urango, 30, guilty of the slaying after less than two days of deliberations. He could be sentenced to at least 25 years to life for killing Alia Ansari, 37, on Oct. 19, 2006.

The trial was a rollercoaster of emotions highlighted by Ansari's now 5-year-old daughter, Latifa, testifying about holding her mother's hand when the fatal shots rang out. She sat on her father's lap on the witness stand and her words tugged at the hearts of those in the courtroom.

Urango was arrested on a parole violation within an hour of the killing because his car matched a description given by witnesses, authorities said. He was charged with murder four months later because tests revealed gunshot residue on his hands.

But police and prosecutors said there was no evidence the mother was targeted because of her Muslim hajib.

Although the girl identified Urango in a photograph the day of the shooting and again during a pretrial hearing before the judge, defense lawyer William Caruthers has argued the process was flawed because the picture showed Urango handcuffed and flanked by police officers.

The child, who twice asked to go home while testifying, said she wasn't sure if Urango was the gunman in court.

Caruthers told the San Francisco Chronicle he intended to appeal the verdict on the grounds that Latifa was coached on what to say by her father and that she gave conflicting statements as to whether Urango was the shooter. The defense also plans to argue that the girl's statements could have been altered through translation.

"I'm dismayed by the verdict," Caruthers told the paper. "I thought that the case that the prosecution had was not the strongest. I think I had made that abundantly clear, but evidently the jury was satisfied that the DA had convinced them sufficiently."