The man who murdered Mississippi Highway Patrolman Lt. Troy Morris almost two years ago has been ordered to serve four decades in prison.

Judge Tomika H. Irving sentenced Damion Whittley of Natchez to 40 years behind bars for the depraved heart murder.

A depraved heart murder is a type of murder where an individual acts with a “depraved indifference” to human life.

Lt. Morris was shot to death in his truck on the side of U.S. 61 in Jefferson County while he was working off-duty for the postal service.

Morris called in that his got a flat tire, and between the time Morris called for assistance and when that assistance arrived Damion Whittley had killed him.

Copiah County District Attorney Daniella M. Shorter said Whittley pleaded guilty and received the maximum sentence.

Whitley was one of three individuals who have been taken into custody and charged with murder.