Dennis Dwayne Chambers, 61, of Gloucester was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years in prison for the aggravated malicious wounding of his wife, Corena Chambers, and life in prison for the first-degree murder of her infant daughter last year.Judge Jeffrey W. Shaw pronounced the sentences in Gloucester Circuit Court. Chambers pleaded guilty to both charges in February.

Defense attorney Julie L. Churchill asked Shaw to stay within the state sentencing guidelines because Chambers had pleaded guilty, had never tried to rationalize the crimes and had not been in trouble with the law before. After pronouncing the sentences, Shaw said he strayed from the guidelines because the murder victim was a helpless infant.Chambers offered a tearful apology prior to hearing the sentences. “I’m sorry for what I’ve done. If I could change it, I would,” he said.

Gloucester Sheriff’s deputies were called to the Chambers’s home on Aberdeen Creek Road on July 7 of last year for a welfare check. They were summo...