MACON, Ga. (WGXA) -- The murder conviction and life sentence has been upheld for a Macon man convicted of beating another man who later died from his injuries.

James Patterson was arrested in December 2018 for the June 17, 2018 killing.

He was subsequently convicted of felony murder in connection with the fatal beating of 55-year-old Jeffrey Burke.

Bibb County deputies responded to an area hospital on June 17, 2018, about an alleged hit-and-run victim. Burke's family reported to investigators that some of his friends drove him home and stated that they thought he may have been the victim of a hit-and-run, but weren't sure.

Burke's family then called an ambulance, which transported Burke to the hospital. Staff later called the sheriff's office.

Burke wasn't conscious when deputies first reported to the hospital, but when he awoke days later, he told deputies that he wasn't the victim of a hit-and-run. He said that he was at a Father's Day cookout on Astor St. when someone beat him from behind.

Burke was released from the hospital but died shortly in September 2018 as a result of his injuries sustained in the beating.

Investigators identified Patterson as the suspect and arrested him on December 18, 2018, at an apartment in Gordon.

During a two-day trial in 2019, court testimony revealed that Patterson and two other unidentified assailants brutally attacked Burke after the victim and suspect had gotten into some "trash talking" at the Astor St. cookout.

Witnesses testified that several vertebrae in Burke's spine were broken or damaged and that his lower extremities were left paralyzed. In the Father's Day attack, Burke also sustained a broken nose and a broken orbital bone.

Patterson was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of felony murder and aggravated assault.