Man sentenced to life in prison for killing Phoenix police officer
Nov 18, 2015, 11:07 AM | Updated: 11:39 am
Danny Martinez (left) was sentenced to life in prison for killing Phoenix police officer Travis Murphy.
(left)
PHOENIX — A man convicted of killing a Phoenix police officer was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday.
Danny Martinez was found guilty earlier this year of killing officer Travis Murphy. He faced the death penalty.
Jurors sentenced Martinez based on one of the two counts of first-degree murder he faced. Maricopa County Attorney’s Office spokesman Jerry Cobb said prosecutors are evaluating whether to retry the penalty phase on the conviction jurors couldn’t decide.
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.
