Christopher Lyman, 31, Junction City has been sentenced to life in prison in connection with the death of an eight-month old infant in September of 2013.

He was found guilty in May by a Geary County District Court jury of 1st Degree Felony Murder, Child Abuse, and Aggravated Battery.

During sentencing proceedings in District Court Friday, Lyman received a life term on the murder count, plus concurrent sentences of41 months on the Aggravated Battery count and 32 months on the Child Abuse conviction, to be served at the same time as the life term.  That made the life sentence the controlling term.  Lyman will be eligible for parole consideration in 20 years.

The prosecutor in the case, Chris Biggs said, “Obviously we’re pleased with the verdict, and the sentence is set by statute. So life sentence isn’t something the Court has a lot of discretion on. ” Biggs added, “The real tragic part of this case is that it was apparent during the course of the trial that this child for lots of reasons had been passed among various people given the responsibility to care for the child. The child was killed. Ultimately the child didn’t have a voice, and the jury gave the child a voice in this case. So we’re very pleased with the outcome.”

During the proceedings on Friday the Court overruled a motion for a new trial or judgement of acquittal. During a hearing on that motion Lyman testified he didn’t commit the crime, and noted he didn’t kill the infant.