The state court of criminal appeals has denied a petition asking a lower court to review the capital murder conviction and death sentence for Bobby O’Lee Phillips.

Phillips was convicted of multiple crimes committed with Oscar Roy Doster following their Nov. 4, 2002, escape from the Covington County Jail. The most serious of these offenses was the shooting death of Paul LeMaster. For that shooting, Phillips, who confessed to being the “trigger man,” was convicted of three counts of capital murder and was sentenced to death following a 12-0 jury vote. Circuit Judge Charles “Lex” Short upheld and imposed the jury’s decision to punish Phillips with the death sentence.

Phillips’ conviction was affirmed in a 172-page opinion by the court of criminal appeals in May 2011. His counsel filed for the review earlier this year, which was denied on Oct. 3.

A similar petition filed by Doster’s counsel was denied on April 15 by the State Supreme Court.