Man sentenced to life without parole for murder of Phoenix police officer

PHOENIX — A man who was previously convicted of killing a Phoenix police officer was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday.

Judge Teresa Sanders sentenced Danny Martinez to natural life in prison.

— MC Superior Court (@courtpio) May 6, 2016

Danny Martinez was found guilty in 2015 of two counts of first-degree murder for killing Phoenix officer Travis Murphy. He faced the death penalty.

In November 2015, he was sentenced to life in prison on one of the two counts, but jurors were not unanimous in their decision on the second charge for premeditated murder.

Murphy was shot in 2010 while he responded to a call about a suspicious person. Martinez fired from a dark alcove, hitting Murphy multiple times. Murphy died at a local hospital.

Martinez was found near the scene of the shooting in a shed. He had previous felony weapons charges.

Murphy was a father of two and four-year veteran of the force.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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