Walker Man Sentenced To Life For Rape, Murder

Walker native Vernon Kennedy has been sentenced to life in prison for the 1985 rape and beating death of 19-year-old Tina Marie Kristynik in her Baton Rouge home.

State District Judge Tony Marabella also denied a defense motion for a new trial on Wednesday.

The Advocate reports an East Baton Rouge Parish jury convicted Kennedy on Dec. 3 of second-degree murder in Kristynik's death.

The 54-year-old Kennedy already is serving a life term in Georgia for a 1995 murder.

Local prosecutors have said Kennedy will return to Georgia to carry out his sentence there and will not return to Louisiana unless he is paroled in Georgia.

The Kristynik case remained cold until January 2007 when authorities said DNA evidence linked Kennedy to the slaying.