Alabama man convicted, sentenced to life for 1999 teenager slayings

A jury on Thursday ruled a man convicted of the 1999 slaying of two teenage girls should spend the rest of his life in prison.

The ruling comes a day after jurors convicted Coley McCraney, 49, of capital murder for the deaths of Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley, court records show. The panel on Thursday determined that McCraney should serve the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to news outlets and court records.

"We lost two precious girls...who didn't have the opportunity to grow up and experience life," Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a press conference after the sentencing decision.

Marshall, who prosecuted the case, said the verdict doesn't bring closure but answers the question of what happened to the teens nearly 24 years ago. "Ultimately, he's going to be able to spend the rest of his life in prison thinking about what he has done," Marshall said.

Hawlett and Beasley, both 17, disappeared after setting off for a party in southeastern Alabama on July 31, 1999. They never returned. Their bodies were found the next day in the trunk of Be...