NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (AP) — A Pasco County man has been sentenced to life in prison for a fatal purse-snatching.

A jury found 39-year-old Steve Cruz guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday. The state did not pursue the death penalty.

Prosecutors say Cruz killed 62-year-old Linda Roma during a struggle for her purse outside a T.J. Maxx store in Hudson. Roma and her daughter were leaving the store in November 2008, when Cruz tried to take the older woman's purse. Roma fought back and was thrown to the ground, where she hit her head. Cruz fled in a car, and Roma died at a Tampa hospital the next day.

Cruz's girlfriend, 41-year-old Lisa Dillard, was driving the getaway car. She pleaded no contest last year to being an accessory and is serving a three-year sentence.

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My thoughts:

If this isn't a clear cut case of involuntary manslaughter - then I dont' know what is!  Like this guy REALLY planned on the death of this lady.  FIRST DEGREE MURDER was his charge.  This is just plain wrong.