IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of an Iowa City cab driver. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that 42-year-old Curtis Cortez Jones was sentenced Friday after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder in November for the 2017 death of Ricky Lillie.

Jones maintained his innocence in a statement read to the sentencing judge. Lillie’s mother said in a victim statement that she wishes Iowa had the death penalty. Jones is also charged in the fatal shooting of Iowa City bail bondsman Jonathan Wieseler. That trial is scheduled to begin on Friday at the Polk County Courthouse. Both trials were moved because of intense publicity.