Oklahoma court affirms life term in boy's death

OKLAHOMA CITY —

An Oklahoma appeals court has rejected the appeal of a man convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for the death of a 6-year-old boy in a drive-by shooting.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals handed down the decision Thursday in the case of 27-year-old Maurice Tubbs. Tubbs was convicted by a jury in Comanche County of shooting into a southwest Lawton home on April 4, 2009, and fatally wounding 6-year-old Hikeem Lambirth, who was asleep on a couch.

Family members testified Hikeem was sleeping in a front room of the house when gunshots rang out. He was shot in the chest and ran into a bedroom, where family members held a towel against his chest to try to slow the bleeding.

Copyright The Associated Press