A jury found the man accused in the beating death of his former girlfriend, a North Texas fitness instructor, guilty of capital murder.
Deliberations ended Thursday afternoon over the fate of 50-year-old Terrance Black, who was charged with capital murder in the 2011 death of 40-year-old Susan Loper, of Frisco.
"WWhat he did to us by murdering her affected so many lives," said Marla Malone, Loper's best friend since childhood. "It was his selfishness that did this, and it has scarred us all for the rest of our lives."
"We want him to have many years in prison to sit and think about what he's done, day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute," she said.
Because of the capital murder charge, Black was sentenced to an automatic life sentence without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty in the case.
Wendy Black, Terrance Black's sister, said they plan to appeal.
"No evidence, no physical evidence, tied this to my brother whatsoever and I dare this state to come back and, believe me, I will be back in this state," she said.
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Loper was found beaten to death in a field near Dallas North Tollway in April 2011 after disappearing the day before from the Plano country club where she worked.
Two days after Loper's body was found, Terrance Black was arrested in Arizona after jumping into the Grand Canyon.
NBC 5's Ellen Goldberg contributed to this report.
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