Oklahoma Court Upholds Muskogee Man's Life Sentence

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld the life prison sentence of a 21-year-old Muskogee man convicted of first-degree murder.

The court handed down the ruling Wednesday in the case of John Cone Jr. Cone was found guilty by a jury in Muskogee County last year of the September 2012 shooting death of 26-year-old Skyler Brewer.

3/12/2014 Related Story: Jury Convicts Man Of Murder In Fatal Muskogee Shooting

Muskogee Police responding to the shooting found Brewer and another man, Robert Carmans, had been shot. A probable cause affidavit says Carmans was treated at the scene but Brewer was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Witnesses told investigators that they heard Cone yelling about missing money at the time. Cone testified at his trial that he shot Brewer in self-defense.

Cone is serving his life sentence at the Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing.