Friday, Sept. 28, 2012

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. (AP) -- A judge sentenced a man to life in prison without parole in the beating and stomping death of Bobby Tillman at a Douglasville party.

CBS Atlanta reports that Douglas County Superior Court Judge William McClain handed down the sentence Friday for 20-year-old Tracen Franklin.

Franklin, who was 18 at the time of Tillman's death, is the only one of the four people initially charged who faced a possible death sentence.

Franklin, who was a student at Alabama State University, acknowledged in a videotaped interview that he attacked Tillman.

The 18-year-old Tillman was beaten to death in front of a Douglasville house where two teenage girls were throwing a party in November 2010. He died from a tear to his heart that happened during the beating.

(Copyright 2012, The Associated Press)