DETROIT – Members of a heartbroken family returned to a Detroit courtroom Monday as the devastated widow of a Detroit police officer addressed her husband's killer.
"Because of Mr. Guzina, I no longer have my soulmate and my children no longer have a father," Sacha Jarrett said.
Officer Myron Jarrett was hit and killed Oct. 28, 2016, while responding to a traffic stop. On Monday, the man who was behind the wheel got to hear just how much pain he's caused.
With emotions running high, Sacha Jarrett spoke to Steven Guzina, who apologized in court. She made it clear his apology isn't good enough.
Guzina was sentenced to at least 16 years in prison for fatally running over Jarrett and fleeing the scene.
"Certainly, Officer Jarrett and other officers working the street have a difficult enough job," Judge Timothy Kenny said.
During Guzina's sentencing Monday, Sacha Jarrett spoke about the awful night.
"On the night of Oct. 28, 2016, my life as I had known it for the last 22 years changed drastically," she said. "Because of the reckless behavior Steven Guzina chose to participate in that day. I cannot describe the feeling in my stomach when I opened my front door to see Sgt. Johnson there standing to tell me to come to the hospital, nor can I describe my heartbreak when I learned my husband was deceased."
She said she and her husband were high school sweethearts.
"My husband was all we knew for the last 22 years," Sacha Jarrett said. "He was our everything. To have him ripped from our lives is a pain I wish on no one."
She said even though it's been a difficult time for her, she can't hate Guzina.
"I refuse to carry hate in my heart for Mr. Guzina, because that would eat away at me constantly," she said. "I will not allow him to take anything else from me. I hope he has a long time in jail to think about the devastation he's caused my family."
When it was Guzina's chance to speak, he apologized to Sacha Jarrett and her family.
"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Jarrett, this happened," Guzina said. "I'm sorry your children don't have a father and you don't have a husband. I'm so sorry for the destruction that I did to your family."
Now Guzina will spend more than a decade in prison.