Court upholds murder conviction, life term
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - An Oklahoma appeals court has upheld the life prison sentence given a Tulsa man convicted of first-degree murder.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals handed down the ruling Thursday in the case of 29-year-old Gary Eugene Beaty. A Tulsa County jury convicted Beaty of the Jan. 10, 2009, shooting death of 33-year-old Billy Don Foster Jr. at a west Tulsa apartment complex.
Officers found Foster with several gunshot wounds, including one in the back of the neck. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Beaty initially told police he wasn't at the scene but later said he was there and was defending himself against.
Beaty's life sentence means he must serve more than 38 years before being eligible for parole.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
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