A Wheat Ridge man was sentenced to 48 years in prison Friday for stabbing and killing a man outside of a bar last year, the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Clinton Eugene Priest, 54, was convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree assault with a deadly weapon for killing 32-year-old Robert Miller.

“We are grateful to the Wheat Ridge Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office for their dedication and hard work in bringing this case to trial to secure justice for Robert,” Miller’s family said in a statement.

On Sept. 23, 2020, Miller was found bleeding in the parking lot of a bar at West 44th Avenue and Kipling Street in Wheat Ridge, according to the attorney’s office. Miller was taken to a hospital with stab wounds and was later pronounced dead.

A witness at the bar told police he saw a man arguing with Miller after Miller asked the man for a ride. When the witness returned, Miller was on the ground, according to the attorney’s office.

Priest was identified as the suspect after his 29-year-old son called police, saying his father had come home covered in blood. The blood, which was confirmed to be Miller’s, was also found on Priest’s truck and on the murder weapon, according to the attorney’s office.

Priest received the maximum sentence of 32 years for the assault charge and 48 years for the murder charge. Both sentences will be served concurrently.

“The judge determined in this case that the maximum sentence under the law was appropriate,” the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “Hopefully this decision will ultimately give the victim’s family a sense of justice.”

Priest will serve his sentence at the Colorado Department of Corrections.