A 16-year-old boy is headed to prison after he was convicted of stabbing an 84-year-old woman to death.

A Galveston County jury deliberated 6½ hours over two days before returning its verdict Tuesday against 16-year-old Jor'Dan Jacqueinn Maurice Lewis. Because he was a juvenile when Vaneeda Wright was stabbed in May 2011, Lewis was ineligible for the death penalty and drew an automatic life sentence. He won't be eligible for parole for 38 years.

Lewis was 14 when Wright was stabbed 28 times at her La Marque home. Prosecutors said a butcher knife was left embedded in her cheek, but Dr. Stephen Pustilnik, Galveston County's chief medical examiner, testified Wright likely lived at least 20 minutes after the attack.