Tracy Dean Lautenschlager died after he was stabbed outside a home at 700 Arkansas St., left, in the early morning hours of May 26, 2015. Joshaua Back, right, was found guilty of intentional second-degree murder in Lautenschlager's killing.

The man who fatally stabbed a Lawrence man in the neck in May 2015 was ordered on Thursday to serve more than 23 years in prison.

A jury found Joshaua Back, 34, guilty of felony counts of intentional second-degree murder and theft in April.

In the early-morning hours of May 25, 2015, Back stabbed 45-year-old Tracy Dean Lautenschlager in the neck outside a home at 700 Arkansas St., then fled in a stolen truck, police said.

Joshaua Lee Back

Lautenschlager was found, minutes later, bleeding in the parking lot of the McDonald’s at 1309 W. Sixth St. He was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, where he was declared dead.

The stolen truck was discovered in Jefferson County the next day, while Back was arrested in Leavenworth County on May 27, 2015.

After Back’s weeklong trial in April, jurors deliberated for about two hours before returning with a unanimous guilty verdict.

Thursday afternoon Back appeared in court, where Douglas County District Court Judge Sally Pokorny denied defense attorney Dakota Loomis’ motion for a new trial.

Back also heard statements from Lautenschlager’s family asking Pokorny to give him the maximum sentence permitted.

Calling the murder “about as senseless” as any she had ever seen, Pokorny sentenced Back to serve more than 23 years in prison for the intentional second-degree murder charge and six months in prison for the theft conviction.

When asked if he wished to address the court, Back declined.

Defense attorney Branden Smith said he plans to appeal the case.