LIVINGSTON- A Livingston Parish jury has convicted a 38-year-old man of second-degree murder in the 2014 beating death of his girlfriend at their home south of Denham Springs.
    
The conviction carries a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.   

Jerry Pinestraw was found guilty Thursday in the death of Nicole Ozment.
    
Defense attorneys argued that he killed her "in the heat of passion" and argued for a lesser charge of manslaughter, which is punishable by up to 40 years in prison.
    
Prosecutor Charlotte Foster said Pinestraw beat Ozment with a metal pipe until it broke.