Killer of Charlottesville woman sentenced to life in prison

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- William Douglas Gentry Jr. will spend life in prison for killing a woman in her apartment.

Gentry, 23, was sentenced Monday in Charlottesville Circuit Court for capital murder in the death of Jayne Warren McGowan, a University of Virginia alumna who was killed Nov. 8, 2007.

Circuit Judge Edward L. Hogshire also sentenced Gentry to life on a robbery charge, 50 years for breaking and entering and 13 years total on three firearm offenses. Gentry pleaded guilty in December.

According to authorities, Gentry and his cousin, Michael Stuart Pritchett, were looking for money when they saw McGowan's computer through a window.

Pritchett, 19, also is charged with capital murder and other counts.

McGowan, who was inside watching TV and ironing curtains for the AIDS/HIV Services Group's 20th-anniversary gala she was planning, answered the knocks at the door after Gentry identified himself as being with Albemarle County police.

Authorities have said McGowan tried to give them money, but she didn't have any. Gentry, who police said thought McGowan was pulling a gun out of her purse, shot her in the head with a .22-caliber revolver. He shot her twice more while Pritchett sought out the laptop, police said.

Pritchett is accused of firing a fourth shot with a .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol before the pair left in McGowan's 2001 Nissan Sentra. The men were arrested four days later.

Pritchett is scheduled for a five-day jury trial in June. The city's commonwealth attorney's office has said it will not seek the death penalty against him.

Tasha Kates is a staff writer at The Daily Progress in Charlottesville.