Life Without Parole For Former Law Officer

BELTON, Texas (AP) — A former Texas law enforcement officer must serve life in prison without parole for the 2014 killing of Little River-Academy police Chief Lee Dixon.

David Gene Risner was sentenced Wednesday night in Belton.

Jurors on June 6 convicted Risner of capital murder, but deadlocked on whether he deserved the death penalty or life in prison without possibility of parole. A judge then sentenced the 59-year-old Risner to life behind bars.

Dixon was fatally shot in June 2014 while responding to a report of an armed man. Dixon was the only police officer in Little River-Academy, a town of about 2,000 located 60 miles northeast of Austin.

Risner formerly was a police officer in Edgewood, Gun Barrel City and Grand Saline, plus worked for the Van Zandt County Sheriff's Office.