“That’s why I killed him!”

A South Florida man lashed out at the widow of the man he killed in a 2015 dispute over dog feces during Thursday's sentencing hearing in which he was sentenced to life in prison.

Omar Rodriguez, 75, yelled at Lissette Rey, who was married to Jose Rey, whom Rodriguez shot nearly a decade ago in an argument because Rey's dog had pooped on Rodriguez's son's lawn.

“The coward was your man,” Rodriguez shouted in court. “That's why I killed him! … He cried like a baby.”

Rodriguez's attorney, Bruce Lehr, confirmed the emotional outburst in court to NBC News in a telephone interview on Friday.

Lehr said: “It started with a community coming together and hating the defendant in this case. And the hatred on all sides boiled over and ended in an unfortunate death.”

He continued: “Emotions are still running high and flared up when the verdict was announced. … I hope everyone remembers the circumstances.”

Rodriguez's comments were made while Lissette Rey was making a statement, according to NBC South Florida. Rodriguez, who was handcuffed and wearing an orange jumpsuit, was immediately escorted out of the courtroom by several officers after the outburst.

Rey told NBC South Florida that she had mixed feelings about Rodriguez's verdict and did not understand everything he said to her.

“I didn't really listen to what he said. I tuned him out,” she said. “I just read my mind. His words are irrelevant. He is irrelevant in my life right now. He is scum.”

She wishes the death penalty were on the table for Rodriguez, Rey said.

“Ultimately, Mr. Rodriguez will still be able to see his family. They will be able to visit him and see him. I will never see my husband again.”

Rodriguez was found guilty by a jury in May of second-degree murder and aggravated assault in connection with the fatal shooting in June 2015, NBC South Florida reported. The assault charge stemmed from a threat Rodriguez made to Rey's wife.

Jose Rey was walking his dog home in his neighborhood of Kendall, a community in Miami, when Rodriguez said Rey's dog tried to defecate in Rodriguez's son's yard. Neighbors told police that the two men began arguing loudly and Rodriguez told police that Rey threatened to come back and fight him, the news agency reported.

Police said Rodriguez shot Rey, who died of his injuries more than a week later.

After the shooting, Rodriguez sought immunity under Florida's “Stand Your Ground” law, but in 2021 a judge ruled that he did not believe Rodriguez acted in self-defense.

In that trial, Rodriguez claimed that Rey threatened to kill him with a knife. However, according to NBC South Florida, prosecutors said Rodriguez placed the knife at the crime scene and attempted to plunge it into Rey's hand.

Neighbors testified in 2021 and again earlier this year, describing Rodriguez as confrontational and the “crazy neighbor,” the news agency reported.