Man convicted of 2007 murder of ex-girlfriend sentenced

CHICAGO (AP) - A life sentence without possibility of parole has been handed a man whose trial was long delayed by legal maneuvering before he was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of a Chicago woman.

Reginald Potts was convicted in November of the 2007 death of 28-year-old pharmaceutical sales representative Nailah Franklin. The woman's remains were found in a wooded area behind a vacant Calumet City store owned by Potts' brother-in-law. An autopsy determined she'd been asphyxiated.

Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas Gainer on Tuesday told Potts he "didn't erase her," saying Franklin "lives on in the hearts and minds of those who loved her."

Before sentencing, Potts told the court he couldn't apologize for something he didn't do. Gainer called Potts, "a cold, calculating, conniving, coward of a con man."