A 36-year-old Philadelphia man has been spared the death penalty by the jury that convicted him of fatally burning his ex-girlfriend.
Donald Williams Jr. showed no visible emotion as Berks County jurors on Friday recommended a life-without-parole prison sentence.
Williams was convicted this week of first-degree murder, arson, rape and related charges in the death of 49-year-old Maria Serrano of Reading.
Prosecutors said Williams broke into Serrano's home in June 2009, pulled her out of the shower and stabbed her in the head with a screwdriver before pushing her down steps, dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire.
She died six weeks later in a hospital.
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