VB man sentenced to 2 life terms

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - A Virginia Beach man will spend two life terms behind bars for the murders of Brenda Burnett and James Vass in November 2007.

A judge upheld the jury's recommendation and sentenced Jerome Usher to two life terms Tuesday in Virginia Beach Circuit Court.

According to the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, evidence proved that on November 4, 2007, Usher parked outside a home on Pollypine Drive in Virginia Beach where he thought his ex-girlfriend, Brenda Burnett was staying. After a couple hours, Ms. Burnett arrived at the home with James Vass. That's when, according to the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, a domestic dispute escalated into a deadly stabbing. Mr. Vass was stabbed once in the back with a six-inch hunting knife. Mrs. Burnett was fatally stabbed 10 times with the same knife.

Usher had a lengthy prior record, according to the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office. That record includes, use of a firearm and maiming in Newport News in 1997; grand larceny in Norfolk in 1998; possession of a weapon by a felon, among other charges.