Family of Colleen Ritzer says they will continue her memory

SALEM — Colleen Ritzer was likely alive when Philip Chism dragged her body into the woods behind Danvers High School and raped her with a branch, an assistant district attorney said in Essex Superior Court Monday after the prosecution rested its case.

SALEM — Colleen Ritzer was likely alive when Philip Chism dragged her body into the woods behind Danvers High School and raped her with a branch, an assistant district attorney said in Essex Superior Court Monday after the prosecution rested its case.

Philip Chism, now 16 years old, has been found guilty of murdering his Danvers High School math teacher, Colleen Ritzer, when he was 14. Here, Chism listens to closing arguments in his trial on Monday. (Mark Lorenz/The Boston Herald via AP/Pool).

But a defense attorney for Philip Chism said the then-14-year-old was in “the throes of mental illness” when he killed 24-year-old Colleen Ritzer shortly after he moved to Massachusetts from Clarksville, Tennessee. Jurors deliberated for a little over

But a defense attorney for Philip Chism said the then-14-year-old was in “the throes of mental illness” when he killed 24-year-old Colleen Ritzer shortly after he moved to Massachusetts from Clarksville, Tennessee. Jurors deliberated for a little over