Judge Refuses To Toss Murder Conviction In Tagipahoa Parish

CLINTON, La. (AP) — A state district judge has rejected a motion to throw out the second-degree murder conviction of a 34-year-old Tangipahoa Parish man whose estranged girlfriend suffered fatal injuries when she either jumped or was pushed from a moving car.

The Advocate reports District Judge George H. Ware Jr. sentenced Antwoene Irving, of Roseland, Wednesday to life in prison in the death of 33-year-old Kiewanna Sopsher on April 5, 2011.

Although Sopsher was killed in Tangipahoa Parish, authorities say Irving put her body back into her car and drove around for three hours before he stopped the vehicle in East Feliciana Parish.

An East Feliciana Parish jury deliberated less than 45 minutes before returning the guilty verdict.