Two Newport News men were sentenced Friday for their roles in the murder of Diane Green of Gloucester, an employee of a Newport News Hardee’s restaurant who was killed during a robbery.

Anthony Lee Wainwright, 26, was sentenced to life in prison and Michael Johnson, 24, was sentenced to 35 years in prison, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

"Anthony Wainwright committed a loathsome, brutal murder of a fellow church member during an armed robbery at Hardee’s," said U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride. "No prosecution can take back the senseless events of that day, but we hope the severe sentence he received today will provide some measure of closure for Green’s family."

According to evidence introduced at trial, Wainwright and Henry Stapleton entered the Hardee’s restaurant with firearms on Sept. 8, 2007 intending to commit a robbery. After robbing the employees of money in the cash registers, Wainwright’s mask slipped down and revealed his face. Worried he could be identified because he knew the victim from church, Wainwright fatally shot Diane Green one time in the back of the head.

Wainwright also injured a second employee who fled from the restaurant. Wainwright and Stapleton fled on foot and were later picked up by Johnson not far from the Hardee’s. The three men returned to a room at the American Tudor Inn, where they divided up approximately $150 stolen in the robbery.

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