CALHOUN COUNTY, Mich. -- The man convicted of stabbing a mother of three 87 times while she worked at a Battle Creek gas station will spend the rest of his life in prison.
But Shawn Pike only showed remorse for his own family during sentencing for Nicole Gates' murder in Calhoun County on Monday.
“Only thing I have to say is I’m sorry to my fiancee and my family and my kids,” he said before hearing his fate. “Other than that, there ain't nothing else to say.”
Gates' children -- ages 5, 6, and 8 -- have remained sheltered from the details surrounding their mother’s brutal murder. Her own mother did not hide her disgust for her daughter's killer on Monday.
"I hope to God he dies in jail," Wendy Gates said. "I hope he rots, because even that’s going to be too good for him."
On Monday, Pike showed no emotion as he faced the victim’s family.
Wendy says it only shows Pike has no remorse for what he’s done.
"The only people he’s going to apologize to are his family and his children," she said. "Yeah, they deserve an apology too, but so do we."
Wendy says her daughter had a beautiful heart and loved everybody.
“(Nicole) was full of life and the fact that he took that away from her -- away from us, away from her babies” Wendy said. "He deserves no less than the death penalty."
The stabbing took place July 23, 2014, at the Citgo gas station along M-89 in Battle Creek. Nicole Gates had met Pike just a month earlier through Facebook.
Nicole was stabbed while trying to call police as Pike robbed the gas station. The defense argued she was in on the crime and asked for a second-degree murder sentence for Pike, but the jury came back with their guilty verdict in less than 15 minutes.
“My daughter is never going to see her children again," Wendy said. "She’s never going to see us, so why would he deserve any of those freedoms?”
She’s now advocating for change and working to ensure others aren’t put in a similar situation.
“I don’t think there should ever be a woman left alone in a convenience store, gas station -- anything at night by themselves,” she said.
Pike's life sentence comes without the possibility of parole. He has the right to appeal the verdict.
