Lorenzo Thompson sentenced to life without parole

SAN ANTONIO – A Bexar County jury on Friday decided that Lorenzo Thompson should spend the rest of his life in prison without parole.

Jurors deliberated 30 minutes before making their decision. Thompson could have gotten the death penalty.

Thompson was found guilty Thursday in the death of Air Force Airman Vanessa Pitts, whose purse the defendant snatched at a service station at Highway 90 West and Military Drive on April 12, 2010.

Pitts, who was refueling her car at the gas station, jumped onto the fleeing truck but fell onto the roadway a few blocks away and died.