A Florida man, age 38, will spend the remainder of his life incarcerated for the murder of his girlfriend earlier this year. The man, identified as Davarius James, fatally beat and strangled his 50-year-old girlfriend, Claudette Robinson, inside the residence they shared. The violent altercation was reportedly triggered by Robinson giving away some of James’ personal items.

Escambia County Circuit Judge John L. Miller handed down the life sentence to James on Wednesday, according to officials. This decision comes after James was found guilty of the murder, a case that has gripped the local community.

The jury reached a verdict in less than 30 minutes, convicting James of second-degree murder for the “brutal beating and strangulation” of Robinson, as stated by the First Judicial State Attorney’s Office in a news release. The swiftness of the jury’s decision underscores the compelling nature of the evidence presented.

During the trial, prosecutors introduced shocking evidence of Robinson’s injuries, which included rib, throat, and chest fractures, as well as brain and spinal cord hemorrhaging, according to a report by the Pensacola Journal. The forensic pathologist who examined Robinson’s body likened her injuries to those sustained in a car crash, with the exception of a broken hyoid bone, which indicated strangulation by hand.

In a strategic move, James’ defense attorney did not argue his innocence but rather urged the jury to consider a lesser charge of manslaughter in a bid to mitigate his client’s culpability.

According to previous reports by Law&Crime, officers from the Pensacola Police Department were dispatched to a residence on the 900 block of North 7th Avenue at around 7 a.m. on February 3 following a domestic disturbance call. A woman, who had been contacted by James, reported the incident. She described finding Robinson with severe injuries, including a swollen and bruised right eye, and noted that Robinson felt “cold to the touch,” indicating she had been deceased for some time.

When the friend said they needed to call 911, James said something along the lines of “this isn’t going to look good.” He told the friend Robinson’s injuries were from a “fall.”

She went outside to call the police, but when she returned, James had already fled.

Deputies instructed the friend to call James on speaker and she complied, telling James the police needed to speak with him. He responded by saying he “would have to tell them about last night,” adding that “she been dead.” When she told him the cops were listening to the conversation, he hung up, the affidavit said.

In an interview after his arrest, and after he was given his Miranda rights, James explained he and Robinson had been dating for about two years and living together for about a year.

He said they got into an argument the night before about her giving his personal items away to family and friends without his permission, which “angered” him. He said he tried to grab her arm, but claimed she yanked away from him, causing her to fall and hit the back of her head.

When detectives questioned how she could suffer an injury to her face when she fell on the back of her head, they said James became “agitated” and claimed she fell in a “twisting fashion, hitting her face first and then the back of the head.”

The defendant said the victim got up “wobbly” and walked to the bathroom, which is when he heard a crash. He said he went to check on her and found her on the floor. James allegedly said he helped her up and guided her to the bed where they laid together. The victim “stopped talking and just held him,” cops wrote.

According to the affidavit, James continued to check on her pulse and her breathing because “he was concerned that she would die.”

“James recounted that at one point Robinson was shaking and her eyes were rolling in the back of her head, his solution was to pour cold water on top of her. This shocked Robinson and she grabbed James again,” detectives stated.

He was “satisfied she was not dead,” eventually fell asleep and awoke around 7 a.m. the next day, cops wrote. He said his girlfriend was breathing but “very shallowly.” Then he went to meet with his parole officer. After returning to the home, he told Robinson “yesterday is in the past, daddy is here to take care of you,” according to the affidavit.

But when he went to pick her up she felt “stiff,” which is when he started calling friends for help, police wrote. He also had been previously arrested for an alleged domestic violence incident against Robinson in which she was “afraid that James would kill her,” investigators noted.

During an opening statement, prosecutors said James performed a Google search for the following: “If I performed CPR over five hours ago, why isn’t it working?” Other searches included James “asking how to determine if someone was dead, how long someone can live off CPR, and searches about how to tell if someone had been choked by the neck,” prosecutors previously said.