NATCHEZ — A Roxie man was sentenced to life behind bars after admitting in court Monday to the killing of another man in Bude earlier this year.

James William Wallace, 54, pleaded guilty to murder in front of Sixth Circuit Judge Forrest “Al” Johnson Monday for the May 2, 2013, fatal shooting of Bruce Anthony Lofton, 49, of McCall Creek.

Johnson sentenced Wallace to the mandatory life in prison in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The judge said Wallace will have to serve a minimum of 15 years before he is eligible for early release.

Franklin County Sheriff James Newman said at the time of the killing that Wallace shot Lofton with a small handgun at the Gas Lane Shell station at the intersection of Mississippi 154 and U.S. 98 at approximately 5:20 a.m. Lofton died on the scene.

A second man, Christopher Alan Shell, 45, was also shot in the arm during the incident.

Wallace was arrested without incident at the gas station.

Johnson said that a charge of aggravated assault against Wallace for the shooting of Shell was dropped as part of a plea agreement with the state.