Update: Judge Orders Life Sentence for Man Convicted of Strangling Jamaica Plain Mom

Boston, MA - A man convicted of second-degree murder was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole Wednesday, convicted of strangling to death his girlfriend, a Jamaica Plain mother of nine, in 2013.

A Suffolk Superior Court jury convicted Phillip Carrington of second-degree murder Tuesday for strangling Celestine Walker in her Heath Street home. Walker, then 45, left behind nine children.

Judge Frank Gaziano sentenced Carrington to a life in prison, the mandatory term for second-degree murder, with the possibility of parole after 15 years, in addition to time for a concurrent two-and-a-half year term for violating a restraining order taken out against him by Walker.

“After three years of investigation and prosecution, after two trials and countless court dates, Ms. Walker’s loved ones received some measure of justice today,” Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said in a statement following the conviction Tuesday. “This verdict won’t return Celestine to their arms, but I hope they can take satisfaction in the knowledge that this jury saw her death for what it was – a crime of deadly domestic violence for which her abuser will be held accountable.”

Walker was last seen alive on Mother's Day of 2013, with Carrington.

Neighbors discovered Walker's body partially covered with a sheet on the apartment floor four days later, alerted by a strong odor and buzzing flies outside her door, a DA's office press release said. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later reported she had been beaten and strangled.

More background on the complicated, long-running case here. The jury declared a mistrial in the case last year.

>> Photo of Celestine Walker courtesy Suffolk County DA's Office.