Life for US TV presenter killing

Anne Pressly's body was discovered by her mother

A man who murdered a US television newsreader during a burglary at her home in Arkansas has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Curtis Lavelle Vance, 29, killed Anne Pressly in a brutal attack in 2008.

Jurors, who under state law had to choose between a life sentence or the death penalty, made the decision after hearing of Vance's abusive mother.

The KATV network presenter, 26, did not regain consciousness and died five days after the assault in Little Rock.

Doctors said Ms Pressly was brutally beaten around the head and face on 20 October 2008, suffering massive swelling of the brain.

The jury heard Ms Pressly's mother, who found her daughter's body after she failed to answer her regular morning wake-up call, describe what it was like to lose an only child.

The court also listened to testimony from Vance's own mother, Jacqueline, who told jurors she had been an abusive parent who had used drugs, spent time in prison and been physically violent to her son, once throwing him against a wall until he nearly passed out.

Shortly before the attack, the presenter had a small role as a conservative commentator in W, the Oliver Stone film about President George W Bush.