GASTONIA — North Carolina's highest court has upheld the conviction of a man serving a life sentence for killing a University of North Carolina-Charlotte student in 2008.

The state Supreme Court on Friday issued no formal opinion in the case of 42-year-old Mark Carver.

A Gaston County jury convicted Carver of first-degree murder in 2011.

Carver and his cousin, Neal Cassada, were accused of strangling 20-year-old Irina Yarmolenko on the banks of the Catawba River in May 2008. Cassada died from a heart attack the day before his trial.

Carver said he was innocent. Forensic experts testified at trial that his DNA was found on Yarmolenko's car but not on the drawstring, bag handle and bungee cord used to strangle her.