A Copiah County man convicted of killing his stepfather wassentenced to life in prison Thursday at the conclusion of athree-day trial.

Justin Barron, 20, of Wooten Lane in Beauregard, was found guiltyof murder in the June 25, 2010 shooting death of 41-year-oldMatthew Alan Miller, his stepfather. The jury returned the verdictafter deliberating for almost 10 hours Wednesday night and most ofthe day Thursday.

Officials believed the shooting happened when Barron intervened ina fight between Miller and his wife, Joann, the defendant’s mother.He allegedly fired a pair of shotgun blasts that killedMiller.

The prosecution and defense together called 11 witnesses to thestand Tuesday and Wednesday to determine what happened.

Defense attorney Stewart Robison believes murder was the wrongverdict.

“If indeed a decision is made to appeal, we feel like the verdictwas against the overwhelming weight of the evidence,” he said.”It’s certainly premature for me to comment on the other errorsthat may have been made in the course of the trial.”

But District Attorney Alexander Martin said the jury was meticulousin its review of the case’s ample evidence, including photographicevidence of Miller’s injuries.

“I think the jury took their time in reviewing the testimony andexamining the evidence, and they were able to reach that conclusion- that this shooting was not justifiable,” he said.