CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A Rock Hill man will spend the next 15 to 18 years in prison for the murder of a 23-year-old nursing assistant in Pineville.
The victim's family and friends were easy to spot Thursday morning in Mecklenburg County court. They each wore blue T-shirts, displaying the name "Virginia Sanchez" and the phrase "Taken too soon."
About a dozen of Sanchez's family members came to court. Her husband and two small sons, Jordan and Miguel, did not attend. Relatives said they were too emotional to go through the proceedings.
"Today is Jordan's birthday and he doesn't have his mother to share that with him, and that's just not the way it should be," said Sanchez's mother, Yvonne Jacobs-Leon, who read a statement in court.
Earlier, Jesus Rangel pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in connection with Sanchez's death. He was sentenced to a term of 180 to 225 months in prison.
In April 2008, police found Sanchez's body inside her car, which was parked at Carolinas Medical Center-Pineville where she worked. Prosecutors say Rangel strangled her to death.
Police say there was no romantic relationship between Rangel and Sanchez. They were married to others and the couples cared for each other's children. Police say that bond ultimately sparked a feud that might have led to the killing.
They also said Rangel twice confessed to police about his crime, saying at one point that he said he "had made the biggest mistake of my life."
Sanchez's father, James Carroll, said, "Hearing the details of how she died was very difficult for me."
"We'll always miss her and we'll always remember her," said Jacobs-Leon. "Everybody really misses her and loved her."
Sanchez's family said while they wish Rangel would have gotten a longer sentence, they are pleased that the legal part of their ordeal has come to an end.
"I don't think I'll ever get over this," said Carroll.
