A man from Tennessee received the maximum sentence for the murder of a COVID-19 nurse who was fatally shot while en route to her workplace.

Devaunte Hill, aged 23, was sentenced to 25 years for the second-degree murder of Caitlyn Kaufman, a 26-year-old nurse from Nashville, in 2020, as reported by ABC Nashville affiliate WKRN-TV. The sentence was issued by Judge Angelita Blackshear Dalton of the Davidson County Criminal Court, who finalized the order on Wednesday, according to The Tennessean.

The sentencing order noted, In light of Mr. Hill’s trial testimony and allocution, while the court acknowledges his statements, the authenticity of his demeanor and tone raises doubts about the sincerity of his words.

Kaufman was pronounced dead at the scene after her Mazda CX-5 was found shortly before 9 p.m. on the shoulder of I-440 in Nashville on December 3, 2020. The vehicle was still operational, with Kaufman's foot pressing the brake, when a park employee came across it and suspected that it had been involved in a traffic collision.

It has been reported that Kaufman was en route to her overnight shift at Ascension Saint Thomas West Hospital in Nashville, where she worked as an ICU nurse.

A report indicated that a tip from a concerned citizen" resulted in the arrests of Hill and his cousin, James Cowan, the latter of whom was acquitted during the trial in January, as stated by The Tennessean. Hill, who was a passenger in Cowan’s SUV, admitted to discharging six shots at Kaufman, an impulsive act triggered by the victim allegedly cutting them off on the highway.