A military jury yesterday sentenced a 22-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier to life in prison without possibility of parole for the premeditated murder of a fellow soldier who was an Iraq war veteran and the mother of his child, the Army said.

Spc. Jeffery White, of Houston, expressed condolences to the family of Spc. Felicia LaDuke before the sentencing in a Wheeler Army Air Field courtroom.

According to trial testimony, White was involved in a bitter child-custody fight with LaDuke, his former girlfriend, and decided to kill her to avoid paying child support.

"The accused was fed up with her, so he killed her," prosecutor Capt. David Clark had said in opening statements.

LaDuke was strangled and run over three times with her own car at Mokule'ia Beach on the night of Oct. 7, 2005, near a hangout soldiers call "the end of the world."

Authorities said White soon after confessed to two acquaintances and showed one where the body was.

White's attorney, Maj. John Hyatt, said there was not enough evidence to prove White killed LaDuke.

But if White were to be found responsible, Hyatt had said, the circumstances of the killing did not support a premeditated act. White's actions did not support a plan that had been thought out, Hyatt said.

An O'ahu grand jury indicted White on second-degree murder charges, but city prosecutors turned the case over to the military after the Army requested jurisdiction.

White was found guilty on Tuesday of premeditated murder.

The mandatory minimum sentence he faced was life with parole possible after 20 years.

White, who was married and had a child with another woman, also was given a dishonorable discharge and will have to forfeit all pay and allowances.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.