Tennessee man convicted of killing 2 people in Mississippi

RIPLEY, Miss. (AP) - A Tennessee man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole after being convicted in the killings of two people in northern Mississippi.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports 21-year-old Kedarius (keh-DARE-ee-us) Hamer, of Bolivar, Tennessee, was found guilty Thursday of two counts of capital murder.

Investigators said 51-year-old Paul Joel Koster and 29-year-old Ayla Roxanne Hopper were found dead July 6, 2017, in their home near Walnut. The town is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Bolivar.

Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, so Circuit Judge Kelly Luther sentenced Hamer to the only other option for a capital murder conviction in Mississippi - life without parole.

Three people await trial in the case. Two are charged in the killings and one as accessory after the fact.