The man convicted in the murder of a Memphis police officer three years ago was sentenced by a jury on Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Officer Sean Bolton was fatally shot by Tremaine Wilbourn on Aug. 1, 2015 after he discovered a Mercedes-Benz illegally parked on the 4800 block of Summerlane Avenue sometime after 9 p.m., according to The Commercial Appeal.
The driver of the vehicle ran away when Bolton shined a spotlight in the vehicle and the officer pulled Wilbourn from the passenger seat of the car. The two began to scuffle as Wilbourn shouted for onlookers to record the encounter.
The man then pushed Bolton away, fired a shot from his handgun and paused before firing 10 additional times.
Witnesses testified during the trial that they saw Wilbourn back away as he fired on Bolton, who was lying face-down in a driveway. The autopsy report said the former U.S. Marine was shot eight times during the encounter.
Wilbourn was then arrested following a manhunt.
The jury was given the option of life in prison, life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. It took the jurors nearly two hours to reach a verdict.
Bolton's family released a statement through the Memphis Police Department.
"Nothing can bring Sean back to us but we take comfort in the fact that his murderer can never cause harm to anyone else in our community," the statement read.
