By: Stephanie Jacksis
GATESVILLE - It only took jury members an hour to deliberate, before giving a former Copperas Cove student a life sentence Wednesday afternoon.
Gwendolyn Greene, 20, pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping Monday.
Prosecutors asked the jury to send a strong message to the defendant. And the jury consisting of three women and nine men sided with the district attorney, sentencing Greene to life in prison.
She must serve a minimum of 30 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
Greene's father defended his daughter in court Wednesday. He said she was manipulated and negatively influenced by her older boyfriend, who was a registered sex offender.
"What is a 31-year-old man doing with a 19-year-old virgin?" Mr. Green asked.
Gwendolyn Greene was arrested in April last year, after reportedly hitting her mother, Catherine Greene, with a metal pipe. She and her fiance, 31-year-old Steve Barker, then tied the woman up and threw her in the trunk of a car.
Police later found the mother's body charred beyond recognition, after a fiery rollover off of Lutheran Church Road. Both Greene and Barker were taken to Scott & White hospital.
Gwendolyn Greene was originally charged with assault with a deadly weapon, serious bodily injury and family violence. Barker was charged with aggravated kidnapping.
Barker's trial date is set for late March.
