Curtis Ayers was sentenced Tuesday in the May 9 shooting death of Detective Brad Lancaster during a confrontation near the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty when the 29-year-old Ayers pleaded guilty in January to capital murder.
Ayers didn’t comment before he was sentenced.
He was arrested in Kansas City, Missouri, after he was shot by a police officer while allegedly trying to steal a woman’s car.
Ayers still faces charges in Jackson and Leavenworth counties.