A Port Gibson man has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of murder in the death on March 6 of his girlfriend.

District Attorney Alexander Martin said a 12-member Claiborne County Circuit Court jury convicted Dexter Watson, 41, Thursday night in the death of Patricia Dotson, 35, after a one-day trial. He said Circuit Judge Lamar Pickard sentenced Watson immediately after the verdict. He said Watson will not be eligible for parole until he is 65, adding he must ask the court to seek parole.

“It was a circumstantial evidence case, but he made several different statements about what happened, and that helped convince the jury,” Martin said. “He had the victim’s blood on his shoes, and he said he hadn’t seen her. He said he cared about her and wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”

Watson was charged on March 21 with Dotson’s death.

Her body had been found March 6 behind First Baptist Church on Farmer Street in Port Gibson. Claiborne County Coroner J.W. Mallet said she died from stab wounds to the face and trauma to the head. Martin said Friday that Watson and Dotson had an ongoing relationship and were living in a homeless shelter at the time of her death.

Watson was picked up by police the day after the slaying when investigators received information that he had been with Dotson the night before her body was found. He was charged after tests by the Mississippi State Crime Lab linked blood found on his clothing with Dotson.

The case was investigated by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation because Watson’s brother, Terrance Watson, was assistant Port Gibson police chief.