San Francisco ? A judge in a bitter dispute between divorced parents about where to bury a son killed in Iraq sided with the soldier’s father Tuesday, saying the mother’s tearful testimony seemed contrived.

The body of 28-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Jason Hendrix should remain buried in his father’s home state of Oklahoma, despite his mother’s claim that he wanted to be laid to rest in California, Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Robert B. Yonts Jr. ruled.

The mother, Renee Amick, failed to convince the judge that the body should be disinterred.

“The testimony of the mother appeared forced and contrived,” Yonts wrote. “The tears were not genuine.”

Amick, who took issue with the judge’s characterization, talked to reporters on the lawn in front of her house in the rural town of Freedom. She was barely able to fit in sentences between her sobs.

“Obviously, Judge Yonts doesn’t know what it’s like to lose a son. … I’m very proud of my son and all I wanted to do was carry out what he wished,” she said, flanked by family members.

Renee Amick holds up a photo of her son, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jason Hendrix, Oct. 3 in the Santa Cruz, Calif., Superior Courtroom. A judge in a bitter dispute between divorced parents over where to bury their son killed in Iraq sided with the soldier's father Tuesday, saying he did not believe the mother's tearful testimony.

The judge cited Hendrix’s ties to Oklahoma, his mother’s initial agreement he should be buried there, her uncertainty about what she would do with his remains if they were relocated to California, as well as the emotional stress moving the body would cause.

“May this brave soldier, Sergeant Jason Hendrix, rest in peace,” Yonts said.

The debate began shortly after Hendrix was killed by a roadside bomb Feb. 16 in Iraq. The U.S. Army initially turned the remains over to Amick, then reversed the decision and awarded them to the father, Russell Hendrix, citing a little-known military policy that grants the remains of military personnel to the elder surviving parent.

The body remained at a funeral home under military guard for several weeks until Yonts issued a preliminary injunction in March releasing the remains to Russell Hendrix. The body was buried in April in Tulsa, Okla., next to his paternal grandfather, a former Marine.