In a courtroom packed with both emotion and a contingent of law officers for security, Pernell Clayton Thompson Jr. wore a bullet-proof vest as he stood in front of a judge and pleaded guilty to killing Marisha Jeter.

The 22-year-old former Wingate University football player dodged a death penalty trial in exchange for life in prison without parole. He pleaded guilty to murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, criminal conspiracy and possession of a knife during the commission of a violent crime. His wife, Yolanda, pleaded guilty to her role in Miss Jeter’s death in March. She was sentenced to five years in prison on the criminal conspiracy charge. Circuit Judge Lee S. Alford of York delayed sentencing her on the other charges until the conclusion of Pernell Thompson’s trial. Part of her plea agreement was that she would testify against her husband.

Before Thompson was sentenced, members of Miss Jeter’s family addressed Alford. They spoke about the never-ending pain they feel since the 16-year-old Union County High School junior class president, cheerleader and honor student was murdered on Jan. 3, 2008.

Manning Jeter, the victim’s father and a Union County school trustee, spoke about his daughter’s many accomplishments, including her work in church, her good grades and her desire to become an obstetrician/gynecologist.

He said he had been warning Thompson since Marisha was 13 to stay away from her. The last time he warned him was three days before her murder.

“Your honor, I hold myself partly to blame because I didn’t kill him when he was standing in my door, when he came to my house to do my baby harm.” Jeter said. “You stole my heart. You stole what God gave me.”

Turning toward Alford, Jeter said, “I have to suffer every day of my life knowing my baby can never come home. I want him to lay every night in his steel cage where animals deserve to be. I want him to feel the same pressure, the same hurt I have balled up in me.”

Jeter said he had considered seeking revenge against Thompson.

“But I know if I live right on this side, one day I will get to see my baby,” he said, again addressing Thompson. “You will never have the chance. You are going straight to Hell and there ain’t nothing nobody can do to help you.”

T.J. Jeter, one of Marisha’s three older brothers, said Thompson took one of the most valuable people in the lives of his family. He said he looks at the pain in his mother’s eyes and wishes he could take it back.

“We will continue to live with this pain the rest of our lives,” he said.

Fighting back tears, Maretta Jeter, Marisha’s mother, said she misses Saturday mornings with her daughter, eating breakfast together and then going shopping. She said Marisha was looking so forward to graduating from high school in 2009. Mrs. Jeter went to the ceremony and accepted her daughter’s diploma.

“I have three sons who don’t have their baby sister and a father who doesn’t have his baby girl,” she said.

Lewis Jeter III, Marisha’s uncle, said the health of his father — Marisha’s grandfather — began to decline when she died. He said Marisha and “June” Jeter had been very close — he had taken care of her and carried her to school.

“We watched him go down and down and down,” he said. “From Jan. 3, 2008 until Sept. 17, 2009. Then on the day my daddy died, he (Thompson) decided he would plead guilty.”

Overcome, he walked back to his seat in the courtroom.

Thompson stood next to his court-appointed lawyers, Andy Johnston and Gerald Wilson of Spartanburg. His black and white striped jail-issue jumpsuit hung loosely on his lean frame and his face was unshaven. When the Jeter family came to address Alford, Thompson sat down in a nearby chair and hung his head. His shoulders sometimes heaved with sobs.

Johnston told Alford that Thompson was a gifted athlete —perhaps the only football player from Jonesville High School ever to be invited to play in the Shrine Bowl. He went to college on a partial academic and athletic scholarship. At Wingate University, however, he found himself in a situation he couldn’t handle. He was involved with two women — one his wife and the mother of his child, the other Miss Jeter.

“His wife found out about the relationship with the other young lady and he was faced with the loss of his family and faced with his own wrongdoing,” Johnston said. He lacked the maturity and depth to handle his problems and this led to the events that led to Miss Jeter’s murder.

Johnston said he has stressed to Thompson that he will be able to make a contribution to society even though he is behind the walls of a prison. He said Thompson wants to be a father to his 3-year-old daughter.

“Your honor, we are grateful to the solicitor and the Jeter family that they did not insist on the death penalty in this case. One life has been taken, two lives have been destroyed. But it is Pernell’s hope that he won’t be judged just by what he did that one night, but by what he had done before.”

Thompson told Alford he appreciated the judgment of Alford and Solicitor Kevin Brackett.

Turning toward the Jeters, he said, “You are not the only ones who have been hurt by what happened to Marisha,” He said that he “never imagined anything like this” could have happened.

“I loved Marisha with all my heart,” he said.

Several times, Wilson spoke softly and indicated to Thompson that he had said enough. Thompson continued.

Turning toward his family, Thompson said he loved them and he had found peace with God.

“You know who I am and I will never stop being that person,” he said.

Before the sentencing, Brackett gave Alford facts in the case, including some information that previously had not been made public. Brackett said a court-ordered mental evaluation of Thompson determined he was competent to stand trial, but that he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder “based on the situation in which he finds himself.”

He said that on the night of Miss Jeter’s death, Thompson sent her a text message asking her to meet him at the YMCA and return a jacket that belonged to him. She told her parents she was going to McDonald’s but instead went to the YMCA on East Main Street. There, the Thompsons attacked her, stabbed her and, while she was still alive, stuffed her into the trunk of her car.

Miss Jeter was found on Jan. 5 on the Chester County side of the Broad River outside Lockhart partially clothed, lying face-down, partially submerged in water.

Her car was soaked with gasoline and set on fire in Chester County.

The couple was questioned about her death and Thompson confessed his role in the murder to a SLED agent.

Later, Yolanda Thompson told officers where some of Miss Jeter’s blood-soaked clothing and her cell phone could be found — bagged up in a gully.

Brackett told Alford the Jeters are grieving as much today as they were when Miss Jeter died.

“I pray with all my heart they someday can find peace,” he said.

Brackett told the Jeters that Thompson would remain in prison until his death — and in fact Monday afternoon Sheriff David Taylor was transporting Thompson to the Department of Corrections in Columbia.