A Florida man who stabbed his mother to death in 2017 after she threatened to kick him out of their house was sentenced to 50 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to the crime.

Nathaniel Shimmel, 25, was initially charged with first-degree murder in the killing but agreed to admit to second-degree murder to avoid a life sentence.

Shimmel was 22 three years ago when he called police to report a robber had attacked his mother Michele at their Palm Coast home; but later he confessed to the crime, telling detectives that the woman confronted him about why he hadn’t been looking for a job.

Angered, he grabbed a knife and stabbed her multiple times in the throat, chest and back, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. Shimmel said he watched as his mother bled to death.

Circuit Judge Terrance Perkins heard the case and decided on the sentence.

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Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

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