A man accused of killing his fiancé and staging her death to look like a car wreck on I-96 has been found guilty.

A Kent County jury deliberated about 90 minutes today before finding Donald Alexander Spice guilty of felony murder and mutilation of a body for the November 2015 death of 37-year-old Lori Vargas. He faces mandatory life in prison when he returns for sentencing in July.

"This is a huge relief; he doesn't deserve to be walking the streets,'' the victim's sister-in-law, Jennifer Arnold, said ;following today's verdict.

The trial before Kent County Circuit Court Judge George Buth entered its fifth day Friday morning with closing arguments. Jurors returned a verdict about 2 p.m.

Defense attorney Valarie Foster says she expects Spice will appeal the conviction. He admitted to striking Vargas in the head with a hammer, but says it was done after she came at him with a knife.

The Nov. 9, 2015, killing came amid a heated argument in which Vargas was armed with a chef's knife, Spice testified. The woman's body was found inside a burning car beside I-96 near the Marne exit; Spice was found walking along Ironwood Drive a few miles away.

Spice and Vargas argued in the bedroom of their home on Emerald Avenue NE; topics included her two children, finances and a $1,700 phone bill.