Chunping Lin sentenced 40 years for beating wife to death in front of their son in Tampa Bay area

Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- A Tampa Bay area man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for beating his wife to death in front of their son.

A Hillsborough County judge sentenced 46-year-old Chunping Lin on Friday. He was convicted in January of second-degree murder and battery.

Authorities say Lin had been drinking in May 2011 when he began arguing with his wife, 43-year-old Lixin Tian, at their Lutz home.

The couple's now-12-year-old son testified that his father struck his mother multiple times. After trying unsuccessfully to stop the beating, the boy said he called 911 and went upstairs to get his 19-year-old brother to help.

The Tampa Bay Times ( http://bit.ly/ZnBkBr ) reports that Tian and her sons got away, but she fell into a coma a day later. She eventually died in July 2011.

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Information from: Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.), http://www.tampabay.com.