Raymond Riles has been on death row since 1974 but he has now been sentenced to life in prison. 

According to the Associated Press, Riley, 71, will not be executed by the state of Texas after prosecutors concluded he was “ineligible for execution and incompetent for retrial due to his long history of mental illness.”

Riles also has heart disease and is recovering from prostate cancer. 

Raymond Riles is the country’s longest serving death row prisoner for the 1974 shooting of John Thomas Henry, which was supposedly over a car. 

RELATED: Death Row Chronicles

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement, “We will never forget John Henry, who was murdered so many years ago by Riles, and we believe justice would best be served by Riles spending the remainder of his life in custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.”

Riles’ new sentence means he is up for parole, but Henry’s family will fight against his release, according to the Associated Press. 

Jim Marcus, one of Riles’ attorneys, said in a statement, “Mr. Riles is in very poor health but, if the Board of Pardons and Paroles sees fit to grant parole, he has family with the capacity to care for him.”