The conviction will stand for the man who police say confessed to punching and choking a South Bend woman, then dumping her dead body in a rural part of Marshall County.

Alberto Cruz is currently serving a 60 year sentence for the murder of Alma Del Real and, according to an appeal court judge, he will continue to do so, according to WSBT.

Cruz appealed his conviction, asking his murder charge be reduced to voluntary manslaughter, but that request has been denied, WSBT reported.

Prosecutors say Cruz killed Del Real in April 2015.