Mother of Jacob Hills reacts to sentencing of Michigan man found guilty in son's murder
(CBS DETROIT) - Sadie Hills, the mother of Jacob Hills, describes the past year and a half as an emotional rollercoaster as she and her family try to find peace after the death of her son.
"Just trying to make it through day by day," she said. "I would never wish this on anybody ever."
Hills saw her son's killer, Avion Sanders, for the last time Wednesday during a hearing where he was sentenced to life without parole for the murder.
A year and a half ordeal with Hills no longer having to relive her worst nightmare.
"We won't have to be going and dealing with that and rehashing everything over and over," she said.
Wayne County prosecutors say Sanders murdered Jacob Hills, of Grand Blanc, in July 2022.
It's alleged Jacob Hills and Sanders met at a party and later went to an apartment complex on West Warren in Detroit.
Prosecutors say Jacob Hills showed Sanders his AR-15 before Sanders stole it, later killing him and leaving him in the basement of the apartment complex.
"He didn't deserve what happened to him," Sadie Hills said.
Sadie Hills describes Jacob as one of the kindest people you will ever meet.
"He cared so much about anybody. It didn't matter who you were," she said.
She says Jacob even cared for Sanders the night before he was murdered. She says he drove an intoxicated Sanders home and also carried him inside.
"Jacob threw him over his shoulder and made sure he got home safe," Sadie Hills said.
Sadie Hills says she will no longer hold on to any anger towards Sanders for his role in her son's death.
During Wednesday's hearing, she even attempted to comfort his mother, knowing she lost a son too.
"When I was leaving, I was like, I looked at his family and say, 'My heart is with you,'" she said.
But after leaving the hearing, Sadie Hills hoped for closure. Instead, she says she still has questions for Sanders. Questions she may never get the answers to.
"What was the sense of any of it? Jacob lost his life. Avion loses his life. There was nothing worth it," she said. "We will always wonder."