NATCHITOCHES, La. (AP) — A 34-year-old Natchitoches man has been conviction of second-degree murder.

Natchitoches Parish District Attorney Van Kyzer tells The Town Talk a 12-person jury decided to convict Rodney Ian Barnes Tuesday in the killing of Chackawanda Beard of Natchitoches.

Barnes originally was convicted of the crime last year, but the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal found an error in the way the jury was selected in the first trial.

Second-degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole.

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