State Court Upholds Life Sentence In Broken Arrow Woman's Death

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld the life prison sentence of a 25-year-old man convicted of dropping a cinder block on a woman's head to "put her out of her misery" after he had slashed her with a machete.

The court handed down the decision Thursday to Joshua Reynolds, who was convicted of first-degree murder by a Tulsa County jury in the May 2013 death of 20-year-old Melissa Lemery of Broken Arrow.

Investigators said Lemery's body had lacerations to the arms and blunt force trauma to the face.

5/16/2013 Related Story: Tulsa Man Reportedly Admits To Killing Dancer With Machete, Cinder Block

According to a Tulsa Police report, Reynolds cleaned up the crime scene, rolled up Lemery's body in a blanket and concealed it under a mattress in the backyard.   

Among other things, Reynolds claimed he was denied a fair trial because jurors heard improper testimony and prosecutors committed misconduct during their closing argument. 

Defense attorney Kristi Christopher did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.