BELTON, Texas — After 34 minutes of deliberating, a jury sentenced Marvin Guy to life in prison over the 2014 death of Killeen Police Detective Chuck Dinwiddie on Monday.
Guy was found guilty of murder of Dinwiddie during a no-knock narcotics raid in May 2014. Though it was a capital murder trial, the jury found him guilty on a lesser charge of murder last Tuesday.
Guy is eligible for parole after 30 years.
Earlier Monday, both prosecutors and the defense rested their case with the defense asking the jury for a life sentence. Prosecutors, however, went over Guy's prior convictions in other states in hopes to enhance his sentence. Some of those convictions included robbery, possession of a firearm as a felon and controlled substance with the intent to deliver.
"He is a career criminal," Assistant District Attorney, Debbie Garrett, said. "He has spent over half his life in prison. He has to be stopped. Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent."
Last week, Guy's brother Garett Galloway told 6 News that Guy was steering his life in the right direction before the deadly shooting happened.
"The same thing happened with other people in the past and they've been found not guilty or haven't even been charged," Galloway added. "In this case, it seems like the justice system says 'if we want to get you we're gonna get you.'"
Guy's defense attorney told the jury during sentencing that both his parents died when Guy was a boy.
"Every day, we write pages in our books of life," Jon Evans said. "Some of those pages, we aren't proud of. Is a life sentence fair?"
Guy had no expression when he was sentenced, but Dinwiddie's loved ones put their heads down in tears and hugged one another.
After, multiple family members and a Killeen PD SWAT team member gave their victim impact statements. Dinwiddie's niece forgave Guy at the end of her statement, but told Guy how much hurt this has caused their family.
"I take care of gunshot victims," she said. "Each time I see my uncle's eyes in my patients. When they die, I relive his death. You stole my family's hero."
The jury learned that Dinwiddie was thinking of leaving the SWAT team because another officer died in the line of duty. Dinwiddie was also supposed to be off on May 9, 2014, but his family said he was dedicated to protecting people and felt like his team needed his leadership.
"We want to always find the goodness in people," said Dinwiddie's sister, Ellen Dinwiddie-Smith. "We always want to give them that advantage, but some people like this current felon, we just don't find much goodness. And that those are the people that need to have their just punishment. And I know my brother believes that. And we stand behind that."
"Even if it was a not guilty verdict, there's still no winner," Galloway said last week. "We came into it knowing he would be charged with something and that's exactly what happened."
Dinwiddie's family thanked Bell County District Attorney, Henry Garza, Assistant District Attorneys, Fred Burns and Debbie Garrett and the jury.
Garza expressed his thoughts on the trial after almost a decade of waiting.
"After nine years of visiting with these folks in earnest and saying we're going to get it done... and finally for that to happen. I'm so happy that we've been able to get it resolved," Garza said. "After all of the, after all of the delays that the defense has put forward and being now in a position to say it's done. Justice is done."