A Mississippi man was sentenced to life in prison for the 2021 murder of a man found stabbed to death by the victim’s daughter.

WLOX in Biloxi reports that Phillip Collins, 53, was sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty to the 2021 stabbing death of James Higgins.

On Nov. 7, 2021, Higgins’ daughter discovered her father unresponsive at his residence on 25th Street in Gulfport. Higgins was pronounced dead by emergency personnel after they arrived on the scene.

After an investigation, Collins was identified as a person of interest in the case. Collins was reportedly the last person to be seen with Higgins at his house.

Collins eventually confessed that he had stabbed Higgins and then discarded the murder weapons and articles of clothing in a nearby storm drain. Collin said he stabbed Higgins out of self-defense.

The judge in the case sentenced Collins to life in prison, which is the only sentence available in Mississippi on the charge of first-degree murder.