District Attorney Kristi Valls said she would have liked to hear Lackey apologize to the family of the 80-year-old victim but was glad he publicly cleared Derrick Newman, Lackey’s friend since fourth grade, of complicity in the brutal slaying of his grandfather.

“We always knew Derrick wasn’t involved,” Valls said after the sentencing Wednesday.

Neither the state nor the defense chose to present presentencing evidence.

At Baker’s invitation, Lackey, clad in jailhouse stripes, stood to speak before his sentencing.

“I’m not going to ask you to spare my life,” Lackey said. “My life is over anyway…Derrick was not involved in any way. I thank my family for being with me through all of this.”

Derrick Newman burst into tears at Lackey’s statement and was comforted by his parents.

A seven-woman, five-man jury unanimously recommended March 3 that Lackey be given the death penalty. Earlier that day, the jury had taken just 2 1/2 hours to return a guilty verdict on all four counts in the capital murder trial.

During the three-day trial, Lackey did not take the stand in his defense against indictments of capital murder during a burglary, capital murder during a robbery, burglary and robbery.

Defense attorney Randy Gladden of Huntsville had put both of Lackey’s parents, father Michael Lackey and mother Sharon Lackey, on the stand to refute the state’s contention of aggravated circumstances that the death was “heinous, atrocious and cruel.” Both made impassioned pleas for their son’s life.

Psychologist Frank Preston testified that he found Lackey to be of average intelligence, sane and aware of right and wrong but displaying signs of autism.

Valls said Lackey was acting under the notion that Newman, a former building contractor, had a vault built into a room under his stairwell in which he kept large supplies of cash and gold bars. Under questioning, Derrick Newman admitted he told Lackey that his grandfather was mean and a multimillionaire.

A recording of an open-line 911 call originating from Newman’s home on the night of the killing clearly shows someone repeatedly demanding, “Where’s the vault? Where’s the vault?”

The defense painted Derrick Newman as a controlling influence in Andrew Lackey’s life. Sharon Lackey said Derrick influenced her son to buy him things for his car and other items from money Andrew earned as an e-Bay trader.

Police said Lackey used a stun gun on Newman to try to get him to tell him where the vault was. Investigators theorize that Newman grabbed a gun he kept hanging from deer antlers in the den and shot Lackey. A pathologist said Newman was stabbed and slashed some 70 times and shot through the chest with his own gun.

“I’m very pleased with the judge’s sentence,” Valls said. “I believe justice was done.”

She added that a death sentence is always difficult to ask for but, because of the viciousness of the crime, this time it was the only thing she could request.

Lackey exited the courtroom handcuffed and under guard with eyes cast down. He appeared to be muttering to himself. Gladden said the only time he had seen his client, whom he had described as a geek, show emotion during the more than two years he had represented him was during the tearful testimony of his mother, Sharon Lackey. Lackey wiped his eyes several times as his mother spoke about his infancy and childhood, during which she sought help for him because of his inability to relate to others.

Gladden said the law mandates an automatic appeal, “whether he wants one or not.” Gladden asked Baker to declare Lackey indigent and appoint counsel for his appeal.