SALT LAKE CITY -- The teenager who killed Annie Kasprzak in 2012 has been sentenced to a minimum of 15 years in prison.
Darwin Bagshaw, now 18, won't be eligible for parole until he is 33 years old.
During sentencing on Monday, Annie's parents had their chance to speak to the teen who killed their 15-year-old daughter. They said justice may be served, but they will never have closure.
"May you feel sadness, may you feel loss, may your tears heal your soul," said mother Veronica Kasprzak.
For almost an hour Kasprzak's parents looked right at Bagshaw and told him how much he's devastated their lives.
"What he never understood was that it wasn't just Annie's life that he took, he took ours, he took all of our lives and her light that was in it that was a part of our lives," said step-mother Jennifer Kasprzak.
Bagshaw pleaded guilty to killing the Riverton girl in March 2012, and leaving her body by the Jordan River in Draper. The prosecution says he beat her to death with a shovel after she told him that she was pregnant with his baby.
Father Dennis Kasprzak spoke about identifying the body.
"It was something you'd see hit by a train," said Dennis Kasprzak. "And her lips split and face flattened her nose non-existent."
For two and a half years police investigated the murder, while Bagshaw continued living life in Colorado.
"He had every single day, he could have come forward and said, ‘I'm sorry, I did it,’ and he didn't take that responsibility," Jennifer Kasprzak said.
The defense said Bagshaw reacted on impulse, and considering he was only 14 at the time, he didn't have the mental capacity of a rational adult, so he shouldn't be sentenced like an adult.
However, Judge James Blanch didn't see it that way.
"A terrible crime deserves a serious sentence and here we have about the worst crime that one can possibly imagine," Blanch said.
Before the sentencing Bagshaw spoke briefly, addressing the Kasprzak family.
"I'm very sorry for everything that's happened and I want to apologize to Annie's family and to my family and to everybody in court today for putting everybody through this," said Darwin Bagshaw.
