MANNFORD, Okla. — A former Mannford officer convicted of killing his police chief has been sentenced to life in prison.
According to the criminal division of the Escambia County Clerk, 50-year-old Michael Nealey was sentenced to life with credit for 536 days on Thursday. Court documents show that the motion for a new trial was denied, and the motion for acquittal was denied.
In March, a jury found Nealey guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Mannford Police Chief Lucky Miller during an alcohol-fueled fight at a Florida hotel room, according to the Pensacola News Journal.
In November of 2019, the Escambia County Sheriff's Department arrest report said sheriff's deputies responded to the Hilton Hotel in Pensacola Beach, Florida at 9:50 p.m. on a Sunday night.
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Witnesses told police they heard people in the room Nealey and Miller were in, laughing, yelling, and making other loud noises that night. Other witnesses told deputies they heard someone in the room make a "roaring noise" and a voice yelling, "Stop it, Mike!" multiple times.
Witnesses told deputies the sounds they heard grew loud then quieter before stopping all together.
When deputies opened the door to Nealey and Miller's room, the deputies found Miller on the ground with his face beaten and his right eye completely swollen, with Nealey sitting on top of him. After deputies pulled Nealey off of Miller, they found Miller had no pulse.
RELATED STORY: Mannford Community mourns slain Police Chief Lucky Miller
Nealey was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital and treated for injuries to his nose and lip, which deputies said he sustained after hitting his head on the floor after he was pulled off of Miller. Arrest report documents also said Nealey's right hand was swollen and red.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. on April 29.
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