PHOENIX (AP) - A jury has sentenced a neo-Nazi to life in prison for his murder conviction in the 2009 killing of a white woman during a dispute with her black boyfriend at a Phoenix park.
The sentencing verdict Thursday spared 37-year-old Travis Ricci a possible death sentence.
Prosecutors say Ricci attacked Kelly Ann Jaeger and her boyfriend, Jeffery Wellmaker, after the white supremacist yelled racial slurs at Wellmaker and harassed him about dating a white woman.
They said Ricci left to get a shotgun, returned to the area and fired from a car as the couple stood near a pay phone. Investigators say Ricci intended to shoot Wellmaker but instead struck Jaeger.
Ricci stood stoically with his hands in his pockets as the sentence was read aloud in court.
