A Baton Rouge man accused of killing a boy during a 2017 high-speed police chase was properly convicted the next year on charges from a 2016 incident also involving a high-speed flight from officers, a federal appeals court ruled.

Joshual Hilton, who is charged with manslaughter and other crimes in the 2017 death of 12-year-old Samuel "Sammy" Lee III, was found guilty in 2018 on federal drug and gun charges and sentenced last year to 32 years in federal prison.

Hilton, 35, appealed his convictions, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday affirmed them, saying there was significant evidence of his guilt.

That evidence included Hilton's high-speed flight from law enforcement officers and an admission that the drugs and gun found in his residence were his, the appellate court said.

Hilton led authorities on a high-speed chase on Sept. 22, 2016, when they tried to pull him over after witnessing what appeared to be several drug transactions in a Baton Rouge neighborhood near Sherwood Forest Boulevard.

He sped off at more than 100 mph down Old Hammond Highway in a BMW M4 before abandoning the car on Holt Drive and running away on foot, an arrest report states. He was caught less than a mile away.

Officers searched Hilton's Silverest Avenue home and found 2 kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 5 pounds of marijuana and 20 bottles of promethazine syrup. They also seized a stolen and loaded semi-automatic pistol and more than $36,000 in drug proceeds, federal authorities said.

Eight months later, Hilton was trying to evade Baton Rouge police officers conducting a drug investigation on May 31, 2017, when, police said, he struck and killed Sammy Lee on Old Hammond Highway near Gloria Drive.

Authorities say Hilton was seen tossing drugs from his vehicle during the 2016 and 2017 police chases.

Hilton has denied hitting Lee with his truck.

Earlier this year, the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office charged Hilton with manslaughter in Lee's death. Prosecutors also charged him with attempted first-degree murder of a police officer, and possession of methamphetamine.

His next court date is July 22.

Email Joe Gyan Jr. at jgyan@theadvocate.com.