(CBS/AP)

JACKSON, Tenn. (AP) -- A Jackson man has been sentenced to death for his role in the 2009 kidnapping and murder of a Chester County woman who was abducted while shopping.

The Associated Press reports that Madison County Circuit Court Judge Roy Morgan Jr. sentenced 28-year-old John T. Freeland Jr. on Monday.

The judge was able to hand down the death sentence because Freeland waived his right to a jury trial.

Authorities say Freeland and another man kidnapped 61-year-old Carolyn Ward outside a Henderson store. They also say it was Freeland who shot Ward in the head before the men fled in the stolen vehicle.

A police sergeant testified during the sentencing hearing that Freeland killed Ward because she saw the two men's faces.

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