TAZEWELL, Va. (AP) — A Virginia man has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading no contest in connection with the 2009 slayings of his parents at a pizza shop they operated in Tazewell (TAZ’-wehl) County.

According to media reports, Christopher Dean Looney was sentenced on the capital charges in Circuit Court on Wednesday. His life sentence offers no chance of parole.

Family members appealed to the court that he be spared the death penalty.

The 32-year-old Looney was arrested in February 2013 and charged with killing 52-year-old Harvey Looney and 48-year-old Valerie Looney. The couple was found at their pizza parlor in Claypool Hill.

Their deaths followed an argument over money with their son.

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