DENTON (AP) - A second man has been sentenced to life in prison over the 2009 killing of a North Texas taxi driver during a robbery.

Jurors in Denton on Monday convicted 24-year-old William Kirk "Billy" Stephens of capital murder. Stephens received an automatic life prison sentence because prosecutors did not seek the death penalty over the slaying of 56-year-old Hooshang Vatanpour.

Noah Whitehead, who in November was convicted and sentenced to life behind bars, testified against Stephens.

The Denton Record-Chronicle reports both defendants claimed the other killed the cabbie, who picked up the pair near a Dallas bus station after they said they wanted to go to Wichita Falls.

Vatanpour's stabbed and burned body was discovered in rural Denton County.

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