Life Sentence Upheld For Oklahoma Man Convicted Of Murder

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld the life prison sentence of a 39-year-old man convicted of first-degree murder and desecration of a human corpse.

The five-judge court handed down the decision Wednesday in the case of Michael Anthony Shields. Shields was sentenced to life in prison on the murder count and seven years on the desecration conviction.

11/30/2009 Related Story: Charges Filed in Death of Man Found in Burning Car in Norman

Shields is one of three people charged in the November 15th, 2009, death of 46-year-old Julian Ramirez Cazares.

Prosecutors say the three punched and kicked Cazares before choking him at an Oklahoma City residence. They then allegedly stuffed Cazares' body in the trunk of his vehicle, drove it to Norman and lit it on fire.

Shields' attorney, Jamie Pybas, did not immediately return an after-hours phone call seeking comment.