HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – A Bloomfield man became the state’s eighth death row inmate Thursday when he was sentenced to die for killing two women.

The sentence, formally imposed on Jessie Campbell III by Hartford Superior Court Judge Edward J. Mullarkey, was recommended by a jury last October.

Campbell, 27 was convicted of killing his 20-year-old estranged girlfriend, LaTaysha Logan, the mother of his son. He also killed 18-year-old Desiree Privette and shot her aunt, Carolyn Privette, in the head.

Mullarkey denied a motion by Campbell’s public defenders to impose a sentence of life in prison.

The death sentence will automatically be reviewed by the state Supreme Court.

The three women and Campbell were outside a Hartford home on Aug. 26, 2000, when he opened fire.

In her testimony, Privette recalled the “cold” look on Campbell’s face as he stared into her eyes and squeezed the trigger.

Campbell stood over her and shot her point-blank in the head, but she survived to testify against him.

He was convicted in May 2004 of capital felony, two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, first-degree assault, and a weapons charge.

The jurors originally charged with sentencing him were unable to decide whether he should be executed. Mullarkey declared a mistrial in December 2004 and ordered a new penalty phase.

In an effort to prove he should not be sentenced to death, Campbell took the stand for the first time and said he had already been forgiven by God.

“My past sins are forgiven. God has forgiven me. No one has helped me reach this point but God,” Campbell told the jurors who eventually sentenced him to death.

Formal imposition of the sentence was delayed after Mullarkey agreed to hear from state prosecutors called by Campbell’s public defenders, who were attempting to prove that the death penalty is sought arbitrarily and capriciously in Connecticut.

But their testimony about how they decide when to seek the death penalty did not convince Mullarkey to spare Campbell from execution.

Campbell’s lawyers have promised to vigorously appeal his conviction and sentencing.

There are now eight inmates on Connecticut’s death row, though executions are rare. In 2005, Connecticut serial killer Michael Ross became the first – and only – person executed in New England in more than 45 years.

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Information from: Journal Inquirer, http://www.journalinquirer.com

AP-ES-08-16-07 1650EDT