Bell sentenced to life in 2nd trial for setting girlfriend's mother on fire

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - A Hampden County Superior Court jury found Lastarandre Bell of Springfield guilty of first degree murder for a second time on Monday.

Judge John Ferrara imposed the mandatory sentence for first degree murder of life in prison with no chance for parole, according to the Hampden County Superior Court Clerk's Office. 

Bell, who is 37 years old, is convicted of throwing gasoline on his estranged girlfriend's mother, Julie Ann Nieves, and lighting her on fire in January of 2007.  

This was Bell's second trial.  His first conviction was overturned last year after the Supreme Judicial Court found that the judge in his first trial should have given instructions on second-degree felony murder based on an arson charge. 

The second trial had the same result:  A guilty verdict and a sentence of life in prison.