Man sentenced to die for killing girlfriend, her 2 children

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – A man who pleaded guilty to killing his girlfriend and her two young children has been sentenced to death.

Circuit Judge William Fuente issued the ruling Friday after 42-year-old Edward Covington pleaded guilty to the Mother’s Day 2008 murders in October.

Covington killed 26-year-old Lisa Freiberg and her children, 7-year-old Zachary and 2-year-old Heather Savannah. Prosecutors say Covington also killed the family dog and mutilated the bodies of his victims.

Covington’s lawyers had maintained that their client was legally insane at the time of the killings, and that he suffered from bipolar disorder and intermittent explosive disorder, as well as substance abuse.