The jury issued its ruling Wednesday in the trial of 28-year-old Laquaille Bryant. He pleaded guilty last month in the January 2008 shooting deaths of Chante Wright and Octavia Green.
Prosecutors say Bryant killed the women because Wright was a government witness scheduled to testify in the trial of another man.
Bryant pleaded guilty April 21 to two-counts of first-degree murder but denied any involvement in a murder-for-hire scheme. He apologized to the victims' families as the verdict was read.
Bryant's attorneys argued for life in prison, claiming their client is borderline mentally disabled.