Man Resentenced to Life Without Parole

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) — Thirty-four years after his crime, a convicted Lowndes County murderer is sentenced for what prosecutors hope is the last time.

During a brief hearing Thursday, Lowndes Circuit Court Judge Lee Coleman sentenced Mack Arthur King to life without parole.

The 54-year-old originally was sentenced to death for the 1980 beating, strangling and drowning death of 84-year-old Lela Patterson during a burglary of her home.

Numerous appeals and hearings ended last year when a federal judge ruled King was mentally retarded and could not be put to death.

That ruling resulted in today’s resentencing.

Several of Patterson’s surviving relatives were in court to witness the hearing.