A man convicted of killing a state game warden during a poaching investigation has been sentenced to death.
 
The Adams County jury issued its verdict in the penalty phase of Christopher Johnson's trial Thursday night.
 
Jurors had been deciding between giving Johnson life in prison or death in the 2010 killing of wildlife conservation officer David Grove. Earlier Thursday, Johnson had taken the stand and said he was sorry for the pain he had caused Grove's relatives, lamenting there was nothing he could do to bring Grove back.
 
On Tuesday, the jury deliberated less than an hour before convicting the 29-year-old Johnson, of Fairfield, of first-degree murder in the November 2010 slaying.
 
Investigators said Johnson and a friend had poached a deer when Grove pulled them over on a rural road near Gettysburg. The passenger said a shootout began after Johnson, a convicted felon, vowed never to go back to prison. Jurors were told the two men fired 25 shots in the exchange, which left Grove dead and Johnson injured.
 
Grove was the first Pennsylvania game warden killed in the line of duty in 95 years, and more than 1,000 mourners attended his funeral.