CLEVELAND -- A former police officer convicted of killing an alleged shoplifter is going to prison.

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Cop Sentenced Mother Upset

NewsChannel5 reported that a judge sentenced Jameel Talley (pictured, left) to prison for three years.

The judge agreed with the jury in saying Talley used excessive force in restraining Guy Wills, 41, while working off-duty as a security guard.

Wills died last fall when Talley arrested him for shoplifting at the Dillard's store at Randall Park Mall.

Witnesses to the crime claimed Wills resisted arrest and was under the influence of drugs during the incident. But a Maple Heights jury decided Talley was out of line by beating Wills (pictured, right) to death and convicted him of involuntary manslaughter.

"I want to pick up the pieces that I do have and get on with my life," Talley said. "This was a complete accident, and I'm very sorry (and) very remorseful for both families."

Talley confronted Wills' family for the first time to apologize.

"This was an accident, sir. It was an accident," he said. "It was not intended. It wasn't done maliciously. It wasn't done intentionally."

As she urged the judge to hand down a maximum sentence, Dorothy Wills, the victim's mother, dismissed Talley's apology and said it was meaningless.

"(It means) absolutely nothing," she said. "(We've) been sitting in the courtroom with him every day. All he can do is glare at me -- he and his family. They never once apologized, never."

Talley will serve his time at the Lorain Correctional Facility. He could have been sentenced to 10 years in prison.