James Holmes, the man who killed 12 people at a "The Dark Knight Rises" screening in 2012, was condemned to a life in prison without the possibility of parole by a Colorado jury.

The 27-year-old, who was found guilty last month of murdering a dozen moviegoers and injuring 70 more individuals, has been spared from death penalty but is sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars, Yahoo News reported.

Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler had reportedly told the jury during the trial's penalty phase that Holmes deserved to die.

"For James Egan Holmes, justice is death," Brauchler said.

The defense team had contended that the former neuroscience graduate student was suffering from schizophrenia and was insane at the time he committed the crime, according to NBC News.

But despite that the jury agreed with prosecutors that Holmes was indeed responsible for his actions - mentally ill or not, they did not come up with a unanimous decision for death penalty.

The lack for death penalty agreement among the members of the jury- a panel of nine women and three men, lead to an automatic life sentence without parole for Holmes.

One juror reportedly said that two of his fellow jurors were "on the fence" regarding the death penalty but another was resolutely against it on the grounds of mental illness.

"We ended our deliberations when one absolutely would not move," said the juror.

Arapahoe County Judge Carlos Samour read the jury's verdict shortly after 5 p.m. MT / 7 p.m. ET in a courtroom in the city of Centennial Friday.

Holmes was reportedly expressionless as the verdict was read, while his mother Arlene, was sobbing beside her husband.

"I still think death is justice for what that guy did, but the system said otherwise. I honour that, and I'll respect that outcome," District Attorney George Brauchler said, as per BBC News.

James Holmes — a "socially awkward" young man who slipped into a midnight screening of "the Dark Knight Rises" on July 20, 2012 armed with a shotgun, a pistol and an assault rifle — has refused to testify in his own defense or to make a statement expressing remorse for what he did during his three-month trial.