After evading accountability for more than 40 years, the man who raped and murdered a Mobile teenager in 1980 was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.

Alvin Ray Allen was convicted Oct. 31 in the rape and murder of 19-year-old Sandra Elaine Williams.

Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood said Allen’s sentence “is fitting for the crime he committed.”

“After decades, the family of Sandra Williams has finally received justice,” the Mobile County district attorney said of Alvin Ray Allen’s sentence. “We are thankful this chapter can finally close for Sandra’s family.”

Williams’ body was found on a dead-end street in Toulminville. Investigators said Williams had also been raped.

No suspects emerged at the time of the murder and the case went cold for decades until Williams’ family encouraged state investigators to re-examine the case, using DNA technology not available in 1980, as well as re-interviewing witnesses.

Allen was in and out of police custody numerous times in the decades following the murder on charges including assault, resisting arrest and DUI.

But it wasn’t until Sept. 10, 2019 — almost 39 years to the day after Williams’ murder — that police arrested Allen for the crime. Police arrived at Allen’s Mobile home with a warrant following a grand jury indictment, but he refused to leave his property until a SWAT team arrived and broke down his door.

Court records show Allen was charged with murder and pleaded not guilty to the crime. He was allowed to post bond and be released on condition he wear an electrical monitoring device, have no contact with the victim’s family and only travel to his home, three rental properties he owned and church.

In January 2020, Allen’s attorney filed a motion to end the electronic monitoring component of his release, but the motion was denied by Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Ben Brooks.

In March 2020, Allen went on trial for Williams’ murder, but following a five-day trial and three days of deliberations, the jury foreman advised Brooks the jury could not reach a verdict and declared a mistrial.