Charlottesville man enters guilty plea for McGowan murder

A Charlottesville man who admitted his role in the slaying of a city woman last year will no longer face the death penalty.

William Douglas Gentry Jr., 22, pleaded guilty to six charges this morning - capital murder, entering a home with the intent to commit a serious felony, robbery and three counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony - in Charlottesville Circuit Court.

Circuit Court Judge Edward L. Hogshire accepted a plea agreement this morning on Gentry’s behalf, under which Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Claude Worrell said he wouldn’t request the death penalty at sentencing.

Gentry and his cousin, 19-year-old Michael Pritchett, were charged November 2007 in connection with the Nov. 8, 2007, killing of Jayne Warren McGowan. The 26-year-old woman’s body was found the next day by her co-workers, who went to her St. Clair Avenue home after she didn’t report for work.

In court this morning, Charlottesville police Det. James Mooney said the men had used marijuana the night before and were looking for a way to get money. Mooney said McGowan’s house was well lit, and the cousins could see her computer inside.

Gentry is scheduled to be sentenced on March 30. He faces life in prison on the murder charge.

Pritchett is scheduled to go on trial in 2009.