Hamilton County prosecutors said Thursday that they will not try Edgar Bailey Jr. again for the death of an Atlanta man after the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his first-degree murder conviction.

The appellate court upheld Mr. Bailey’s felony murder conviction for the June 20, 2001, death of Anthony McAffee as well as convictions on three counts of aggravated assault and one count of setting fire to personal property, which Assistant District Attorney Boyd Patterson said will mean Mr. Bailey will continue to serve a life sentence in prison.

"The important thing is they affirmed the felony murder conviction," he said. "The sentence is going to be the same." Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern had merged the first-degree premeditated murder conviction with the felony murder conviction and sentenced Mr. Bailey to life in prison. She sentenced him to five years on each of the assault convictions and 11 months and 29 days on the setting fire to personal property conviction. The sentences are scheduled to run concurrently, but Appellate Court Judge Alan E. Glenn wrote in his opinion that Mr. Bailey was sentenced as a misdemeanor offender for setting fire to personal property when the crime is a felony. Officials said that because the sentences run together, that also will not affect how long Mr. Bailey serves.

Mr. Bailey, 34, is required to serve at least 51 years before he is eligible for parole, records show.

District Attorney Bill Cox said Mr. Bailey will not be tried again because he still will serve a life sentence.

"No, we would not retry him if it isn’t going to affect the sentence," he said. "That’s not necessary."

Defense lawyers Melanie Snipes and Wade Hinton could not be reached for comment. According to testimony at trial, Mr. Bailey and co-defendants Muhammed Nurridin and Jeremy Little were attempting to rob Mr. McAffee, a known cocaine dealer, who was in town to collect about $7,000 in drug money from Marquis Gardner. Mr. Gardner testified at the trial that he left Mr. McAffee at his house on Newell Street about 11:30 p.m. When he returned about five hours later, he found Mr. McAffee’s body wrapped in a blanket "like somebody fixing to try to take him out of the house."

Records show that Mr. McAffee’s car was set on fire near Harrison Pike. The car was found before Mr. McAffee’s body, according to records.

Witnesses testified at the trial that someone fired shots at them when they approached the burning car. One witness identified Mr. Bailey as one of the men, records show.

Cases against Mr. Nurridin and Mr. Little are pending. They are scheduled for trial April 3.