A jury convicted Lawlor on capital murder charges for bludgeoning 29-year-old Genevieve Orange, who went by “Gini,” to death in September 2008.

Ray Morrogh, the Fairfax County commonwealth’s attorney, said he was satisfied the judge followed the jury’s recommendation.

“It’s not a happy day by any stretch of the imagination,” he said. “We feel that justice was brought to Gini Orange and her family.”

Orange was found dead in her apartment on the 6100 block of Leesburg Pike on Sept. 25, 2008, when officers were called to the apartment to check on her, according to Fairfax County police.

Lawlor, a leasing agent who lived in the building, broke into her apartment, beat her with a hammer and sexually assaulted her, according to prosecutors.

Death penalty sentences receive automatic appeals. Thomas Walsh, an attorney for Lawlor, said he would “vigorously pursue” the appeal. He said a life sentence would have been appropriate for Lawlor.

“We’re disappointed in the final sentence by the court,” Walsh said. “We feel that Mr. Lawlor has demonstrated that he would not be a risk for the sentence of life in prison without the chance of parole.

Prosecutors have argued that the killing was deliberate; the defense contended that Lawlor was too drunk and high to commit a premeditated murder.

On Thursday, Morrogh maintained Lawlor deserved to die.

“From the start, I thought it was a case that cried out for the death penalty,” he said.

Walsh said the killing was fueled by drugs and alcohol and defendants in other, more heinous, cases have not been sentenced to death.

“It wasn’t like Mr. Lawlor was lying in a trunk shooting people cold sober,” Walsh said, referencing the 2002 D.C.-area sniper shootings. In that case, one of the two men convicted was executed; the other sentenced to life in prison.

Orange, a Roanoke native, graduated from Virginia Tech and was an active member of the McLean Bible Church, where she sang in the choir.

[email protected]