Circuit Judge Malcolm Street imposed the sentence Tuesday on Jesse Scheuing, 24, of Waycross, saying the 2008 killing was "an especially cold and calculated intentional murder."
The judge said the death sentence was proper because Scheuing was on parole for a felony when he killed 27-year-old Sean Adam Cook and it took place during an armed robbery.
"The video clearly showed it was the defendant's intent to kill Sean Adam Cook," Street said as Scheuing looked at the floor, crying silently.
The jury, which had seen the videotape during the trial, had recommended death on a 10-2 vote. Street imposed it after a hearing in which Scheuing's mother, Marilyn Scheuing, begged the judge to sentence him to life without parole.
"Please don't kill my baby," she said. As her son put his head on a desk in front of him, she continued, "I love him. I hate what he did."
The victim's father, David Cook, was not at the sentencing, but Chief Assistant District Attorney Brian McVeigh read aloud a letter from him.
"Even though justice is served, it's still as empty inside for me as I know it is painful for Bob and Marilynn Scheuing. I feel for them as they too have lost a son," the letter said.
The verdict will be automatically appealed under Alabama's capital punishment law.
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