Man gets 55 years for fatal stabbing of Aurora woman

A Joliet man who brutally stabbed to death his ex-girlfriend while their two children were present was sentenced Tuesday to 55 years in prison.

Hezekiah Hamilton, 26, was convicted in March of first-degree murder in the death of 25-year-old Brenetta Beck, who was found stabbed 54 times in her Aurora apartment on Oct. 30, 2007, with their children nearby.

Kane County Circuit Judge Timothy Q. Sheldon, who found Hamilton guilty, called the killing a "horrible, violent death of a loving, giving young mother" before handing down the sentence.

Attorneys for Hamilton, who maintains that he is innocent, said he intends to appeal.

"I loved Brenetta Beck. I'm sorry for whatever happened to her," Hamilton said in a statement to the court, which drew backlash from State's Attorney John Barsanti, who prosecuted the case.

"I'd hate to see what would have happened if he didn't love her," Barsanti said.

Beck's grandmother, Geri Solomon, was among relatives to take the stand and describe a hardworking, educated woman who worked in hospice care and wanted to become a nurse.

At one point during the hearing, she stared Hamilton in the eye and urged him to confess and apologize.

"You killed my granddaughter and tried to cover up for it," she said. "We'll never get over it. We don't know how."

According to testimony at trial, Hamilton was furious about having to pay child support for his second child with Beck after having moved in with another woman.

Just 10 days after the baby was born, prosecutors said, Hamilton showed up at Beck's apartment and stabbed her to death in the bathroom. Police later found Beck's blood on Hamilton's boots and socks and inside his truck.

On Tuesday, Hamilton's mother also took the stand to describe how he grew up in Jamaica with an abusive father who once cut her with a machete.

Pamela Hamilton said her son started getting in trouble with the law when he moved to be with her in the United States in 1999.

"If you're really guilty, please find it in your heart to redeem yourself," she told her son from the stand.

Hamilton was eligible for an extended term of up to 100 years in prison because of a 2003 conviction for vehicular hijacking with a weapon, a Class X felony. Barsanti had asked for 60 years.

Outside the courtroom, Beck's mother, also named Brenetta Beck, said she had hoped Hamilton would get life in prison but was nonetheless satisfied with the judge's decision.

She and Solomon, 74, are raising Beck's and Hamilton's children, who are now 2 and 4.

"It really is a relief to know (Hamilton) is going to jail," she said.