Lora Barnes befriended Jerome Gregory Wright, let him stay in her home, fed him and even gave him a cellular phone to stay in touch with her, friends and family testified.

Yesterday, he was found guilty of killing her.

Wright, 45, was convicted of second-degree murder in Henrico Circuit Court during a bench trial presided over by Judge L.A. Harris.

The cause of her death was asphyxiation, said Dr. Bill Gormley, assistant medical examiner.

Wright admitted he choked Barnes during an altercation at her home in the 4500 block of McGill Street in eastern Henrico County early on March 20.

"She started swinging at me and I tried to restrain her," he testified.

After they tripped over a rug and fell to the floor, he continued to grip her neck, he said.

"She said, 'I love you' and I let go," he said.

But she lay motionless on the floor of her bedroom, he said.

He then took her car to an ATM on Nine Mile Road, withdrew $500 from her account and returned to her home, where he started fires in three rooms, he testified.

Firefighters discovered her remains mid-morning.

Multiple witnesses testified that Wright had threatened Barnes during their seven-month relationship.

Wright admitted that on Nov. 26, he showed her a knife and said he would kill her if she left him.

"For him to hold his hands on her neck took premeditation and malice," said prosecutor Duncan Reid.

"It wasn't enough that he killed her maliciously. He continued that malice by lighting her funeral pyre."

Barnes was a nurse at Beth Shalom Home and Lakeside Manor in western Henrico County.

About two dozen of her family members attended the trial yesterday.

Wright, who pleaded not guilty to the charge of first-degree murder, did plead guilty to malicious burning and credit-card theft and fraud.

Harris set sentencing for Nov. 7.

Maximum penalties are 40 years for second-degree murder, life for arson and 20 years for the credit-card charges.

Contact Lisa Crutchfield at (804) 649-6362 or lcrutchfield@timesdispatch.com.