A day that has been awaited for over the past half decade came for the loved ones of Detective Kristen Hearne as a courtroom packed with family, friends and her brothers and sisters in blue packed in to watch her killer learn his fate.

Seth Brandon Spangler, now 35, took a guilty plea for all the charges he faced in the shooting death of Det. Hearne on September 29, 2017, and will be spending the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole.

That sentence was handed down by Judge Mark Murphy after Spangler – who was asked in detail whether he understood the pleas he offered before the Tallapoosa Circuit Superior Court – while Spangler looked onward and made no other statements before the court.

Spangler’s guilty pleas on all charges – malice murder, two counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault against a peace officer, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and theft by receiving stolen property – come with his avoidance of facing the death penalty. His life without parole conviction on malice murder vacated by law the other two charges for felony murder, but he also received 20 years each for the aggravated assault charges, 10 years for the theft by receiving stolen property charge, and five years for the gun charge.

He’ll serve the time on additional charges concurrently with his sentence on the murder charge. His guilty plea also comes with the waiving of his rights to seek any appeals on the charges as well.

Spangler admitted during the court hearing that he was responsible for the shooting death of Det. Hearne when he emerged from the woods along with another defendant in the case, Samantha Roof, when Polk County Police Det. Hearne was backing up Officer David Goodrich on a call investigating the vehicle in rural western Polk County. Spangler shot at both officers, hitting Officer Goodrich in his bullet proof vest, but tragically at the time Det. Hearne was not wearing her vest and was fatally injured.

Spangler fled and was later captured by law enforcement after a short manhunt.

Hearne’s mother, Trish Brewer, was emotional in court this morning when she was given the chance to address the court before Judge Murphy handed down the sentence. She spoke of how much love and devotion that her daughter had for everyone in the community, but most importantly to Kristen’s son Isaac.

She directly addressed Spangler as well, and told him that “you stripped us of the only daughter we had, and our grandson lost his mother, our sons lost their sister.”

“She was a wonderful, wonderful mother,” Brewer said. “That day you stripped her of being able to raise him (Isaac.)”

Brewer added that “I hope you will think about how you destroyed a little boy’s life, and how you destroyed our family’s lives.”

“I know where my daughter is today, she’s in heaven,” Brewer said. “I won’t let anything stand between me and getting to see her again.”

She prayed that Spangler would ask for forgiveness for the unnecessary crime that he committed.

Because the case against Samantha Roof remains pending, neither District Attorney Jack Browning or Judge Murphy added any further comments during the hearing that might have swayed the case to come.

In a press release following the hearing, Browning did report that Spangler’s opportunity to take a guilty plea after it was revealed in court this morning that Spangler had a documented history of mental health and substance abuse issues, including a verified stay in the hospital just a week before after he checked himself in for treatment after suffering from what Browning described was “suicidal hallucinations” and had physical evidence on his person that he had attempted to harm himself.

Additionally, the release stated that “the family expressed to him that, ‘while they felt that a death sentence would certainly be justified, even that, being the harshest sentence that could be imposed, would never fill the void and the loss in their life brought on by Spangler’s actions, nor would it be enough to end or allow for us to forget the pain he caused our family, Kristen’s law enforcement family, and an entire community.’”

The five-year wait for justice came to a close this morning after the Judge Murphy dropped the gavel and concluded court for the day, but they’ll continue to relive the tragic events of that day.

Check back later this evening for additional comments from the Brewer family following today’s court news.