BELLEVILLE, IL (KMOX) – A Metro East man has received the maximum prison sentence after being convicted in July of beating a woman to death.

Santoin Russell, 27, of Belleville was sentenced to six decades behind bars today.

Russell had been convicted in the February, 2008 murder of Karinina Polk. Polk died of injuries suffered when prosecutors say Russell hit her in the head with a tire iron in a Fairmont City, Illinois motel.

“A year and a half ago this case was at a dead end,” St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly said in a press release.

“We worked with the Fairmont City Police and found a way to move forward even though there were no guarantees. But the risks were worth it to get justice for the victim and for the People for a brutal, vicious crime.”