A Mississippi man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after a jury found him guilty of murdering his wife and attempting to cover up the crime by torching her vehicle.

Michael Owens, 37, of Edwards, was convicted this week by a Hinds County jury on charges of murder and arson following the killing of his wife, Ebony Owens, in 2023.

Police say her body was later recovered from the Big Black River, days after she had been reported missing. Investigators also discovered her “burned” vehicle near the couple’s home, a key factor leading to the arson charge.

During sentencing, Hinds County Judge Faye Peterson expressed the weight of the case on the court. “This trial, this case has been troubling to this court,” she said, according to ABC affiliate WAPT. “Very seldom does a case trouble this particular judge. And yet, as I listened to the testimony in this case, the one word that went through my mind was selfish.”

On the witness stand, Owens admitted he pulled the trigger, recounting an argument that escalated fatally. “When I shot her, I said, ‘Baby, don’t die. Don’t leave me. Don’t die,'” he told jurors. Owens further claimed, “She made me snap.”

Defense attorneys argued that the killing was a crime of passion, not a premeditated act of murder. Owens himself testified that he feared for his life after his wife allegedly reached for a gun. “I just, I feared for my life,” he told NBC affiliate WLBT. “When I feared for my life, I just grabbed my gun. When I pointed my gun back, then when she turned her head like this, and that’s when I shot her. I was so mad I just shot her, shot her in the head.”

Owens also admitted to deep regrets, acknowledging the couple’s turbulent relationship, marked by accusations of infidelity. “A marriage is not easy,” he told the court, according to WAPT. “A marriage is what you make of it. A marriage is a job. We had our ups and downs, our differences.”

The couple shared four children, now left to grow up without their mother and with their father behind bars.