VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) — The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld the murder conviction of a northwestern Indiana man convicted of fatally shooting a man as the victim’s wife and children watched.

Twenty-year-old Thomas Reichler of Porter argued in his appeal that jurors should have been allowed to consider a reckless homicide charge in the 2014 slaying of 36-year-old Alexius Tapia of Portage. A Porter County jury in 2016 found Reichler guilty of murder, and he was sentenced to 62 years in prison.

The Times of Northwest Indiana reports the appeals court decided in an opinion released Tuesday that Reichler knew his actions had a high probability of causing Tapia’s death and were more than just reckless.

Court records show Tapia was shot after he caught Reichler and two accomplices stealing items from unlocked cars.