A Clayton County judge sentenced a man who murdered his girlfriend and bound and gagged her children to life in prison on Thursday.

William Nazario apologized in court for the murder before accepting a plea deal.

"I will just start off saying that I'm truly sorry for what happened. I ask God for forgiveness every day, every minute, every hour," he said in Superior Court.

The family of victim Korean Bowden wept in court, Channel 2's Tom Jones reported

Bowden's mother gave a victim impact statement during the sentencing and asked Nazario to look at her as he held his head down. When he refused she asked again more forcefully.

"Is there any way that you can find in your heart to look me in my eye and hear what I'm gonna say to you," Jacquelyn Taylor asked.

Nazario looked at Taylor, who told him how much Bowden and her family loved him.

"And you loved my daughter to death. You loved her to death," she told him.

Prosecutors said Bowden told Nazario she was ending their relationship last September. That's when Nazario stabbed her 20 times in their Riverdale home and hid the body.

He also bound and gagged her children, assaulted one and kidnapped the other. Nazario and the child was eventually found in a Bartow County hotel. Prosecutors said Nazario planned to travel to New Jersey.

Nazario asked God for forgiveness during the sentencing.

"I ask God to have mercy on my soul for taking her life. I'm sorry," he said.

Nazario will spend at least 30 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.

Bowden's family said they accepted the plea deal because they didn't want Bowden's children to relive their nightmare during a trial.