DENVER -- After deliberating less than four hours, a Denver jury agreed that the man who was caring for his ex-girlfriend's 7-year-old son murdered the boy by starving him to death and keeping him locked in a small linen closet for weeks.

Jon Phillips, 27, was found guilty of first-degree murder, fatal child abuse and tampering with evidence.

Phillips had been the guardian for Chandler Grafner, who died from cardiac arrest in May 2007. The coroner ruled that his death was the result of starvation and dehydration.

The 7-year-old weighed only 34 pounds. Doctors who saw Chandler when he was wheeled into the emergency room said he looked like a concentration camp victim and smelled like an animal.

Phillips displayed no emotion as the judge read the verdict, but his mother, who was in the courtroom, began crying.

The trial immediately moved into the sentencing phase. A first-degree murder conviction requires the judge to sentence Phillips to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was also sentenced to 48 years in prison for the child abuse charge and one year for the tampering with evidence charge. The sentences will be served consecutively, which means that Phillips will never be released from prison.

After the verdict, some gathered at Chandler’s grave, they said, to show their support.

“I’m here to show that he was loved, the people love him, that he mattered,” said Margaret Ford, a Denver resident who closely followed the trial. “We can’t let this continue to happen. There’s too many Chandler’s out there, and we have to make changes for every one of them.”

Chandler’s death did help prompt changes in the way Denver Human Services assesses cases.

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Images: Boy Starves To Death In Closet | Evidence Presented During Trial

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Prosecutor Breaks Down During Sentencing

Phillips had waived his rights to testify during the trial and also chose not to speak during his sentencing.

Pleading for the maximum sentence, prosecutor Verna Carpenter broke down, saying what Phillips did to Chandler was "beyond belief."

"It's horrible, it's beyond belief that Chandler is dead," Carpenter told the judge, at times halting when she was overcome with emotion.

"When I talk to my 7-year-old ... seeing him standing next to his first-grade teacher," she said before her voice became inaudible through her tears. "There's not a sentence in this world long enough for Jon Phillips."

Chandler's maternal grandmother said that Phillips took the life of her beautiful grandson and she hopes he "suffers every day like Chandler did."

After their mother was charged with neglect, Chandler and his half-brother stayed with their grandmother until she became stricken with cancer. That's when the Jefferson County Courts placed the boys with Phillips, who is the biological father of Chandler's half-brother and their mother's ex-boyfriend.

At first, the boys lived a happy existence with Phillips and his girlfriend, Sarah Berry, prosecutors said. But when the family was no longer being observed by a social worker, things turned worse for Chandler, prosecutors said.

He was denied food and water as punishment and was also beaten, prosecutors said. A coroner said Chandler had numerous cuts and bruises.

When he told his teachers that his dad "clobbered" him, he was pulled out of school. Prosecutors said that was when the torture began -- when Chandler would be forced in a closet and forced to defecate and urinate on himself. Teachers never saw him alive again.

When he was taken to the hospital, Chandler's body temperature showed that he been dead for hours. Phillips failed to call 911 for help, instead he cleaned up evidence of the closet, prosecutors said.

Chandler's half-brother, who testified during the trial, eventually led police detectives to the Dumpster where a soiled mattress that had been in the closet was found.

Some jurors moved to the public gallery to hear the sentence. They sat with clenched jaws, craning their necks to look at Phillips as Carpenter spoke. Others in the gallery wiped away tears, including Phillips' parents.

Josh Norris, Chandler's biological father, and Chandler's aunt also testified during sentencing.

"I am so grateful to the DA's office and to the jury for making sure he's held responsible for the evil that he invoked. He tore our entire world apart. I believe that what goes around, comes around," Chandler's aunt said.

After the sentencing, defense attorneys Darren Cantor and David Jones repeated their contention that Chandler died of complications from acute diabetes that went undetected.

"This is an incredibly tragic, really sad case. Obviously we're very disappointed," Cantor said.

"We don't believe it's true" that Chandler was deprived of food and water, Jones said. "It's a case of medical neglect or failure to provide medical care, but not murder."

There was no immediate word on an appeal.

On Monday, Phillips' girlfriend, 23-year-old Sarah Berry, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the same case. She faces up to 48 years in prison when she's sentenced in September.

The state Department of Human Services concluded in August 2007 that county agencies had made numerous missteps in Chandler's case but said those problems were not responsible for the his death.

"Everything that happened to Chandler is squarely on the shoulders of Jon Phillips and Sarah Berry," Carpenter said.

Added Deputy District Attorney David Lamb: "It doesn't make sense to reasonable people. I don't know why it happened. They really disliked this child and they ended up murdering him."