FORT COLLINS, Colo.—A man convicted of second-degree murder in his girlfriend’s death in Larimer County has been sentenced to 72 years in prison.
Thirty-year-old Justin Levi Moore was convicted in November in the shooting death of Valerie Gendernalik in May 2008. Moore had argued that the gun fired accidentally while he and Gendernalik were toying around with the weapon.
At Moore’s sentencing hearing Thursday, Larimer County District Judge Dave Williams noted Moore had previous felony convictions and ruled Moore was an habitual criminal offender, which mandated the 72-year sentence. Had Moore not received the label, he would have faced a sentence between 16 and 48 years.
Gendernalik’s parents are from Colorado Springs.
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Information from: Fort Collins Coloradoan,
