Man sentenced to life for killing N.C. mother, eight-month-old

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — A man convicted of killing an eight-month-old baby and the her mother has been sentenced to two life prison terms.

Attorneys representing 35-year-old William James Schreiber says it's a miracle he didn't get the death penalty. They had told jurors their client was mentally ill.

Schreiber was convicted last week of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his girlfriend, Teri Marie Sokoloff, in 2005 and of drowning her baby, Skye.

Jurors deliberated two days and deadlocked eight-to-four in favor of a death sentence. A death verdict has to be unanimous, so life in prison was the only sentence possible under state law.

Superior Court Judge James Hardin gave Schreiber two consecutive life sentences at the request of prosecutors.

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