A convicted murderer has been sentenced in connection with a third killing following a jury trial in Berrien County.

Rease Pence, now 21, was sentenced Monday for the 2022 murder of 14-year-old Gavin Blankenship. Prosecutors sought life without parole, but the court instead imposed a sentence of 40 to 60 years in prison.

Pence was 17 at the time of the crime. The court considered factors required under precedent before rejecting a life-without-parole sentence.

The sentence will run consecutively to more than 122 years Pence is already serving in Indiana for two other murders.