(NewsNation) — Kaitlin Armstrong was sentenced to 90 years in prison and a $10,000 fine after being found guilty for the May 2022 murder of professional cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson.
Wilson’s close friend, Caitlin Cash, who discovered Wilson unconscious from gunshot wounds the night she was shot, spoke about the night Wilson died.
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“I fought for Mo with everything I had that night, from the moment that I got home and started doing chest compressions, which was the longest ten minutes of my entire life,” Cash said.
She described washing the blood off her hands in a police station bathroom after she was told Wilson had died. She described watching the sink turn red and wishing she could put the blood back because it was the only thing of Wilson she had left.
Cash said she still struggles with guilt for not being able to protect Wilson and not arriving home sooner.
Wilson’s mother, Karen Wilson, also spoke to Armstrong following the sentencing.
“I hate what you did to my beautiful daughter,” she said. “It was very selfish and cowardly.”
Karen described her daughter as a caring, empathetic person who would have cared about Armstrong’s feelings if Armstrong had confronted her directly.
“You ruined your life, your family’s lives, our lives, and crushed the hearts of many more,” Karen said. “When you shot Moriah in the heart, you shot me in the heart.”
Karen said she prayed for Armstrong’s healing, asking her to admit her guilt, own her actions and seek forgiveness, not just from the family but from God.
Wilson’s father, Eric Wilson, spoke to the media following the sentencing and said “Justice is served.”
“I want to thank God for giving us strength, comfort and a measure of peace throughout this process,” Eric Wilson said.
The jury had started deliberations Friday morning over Armstrong’s sentencing.
Prosecutors said Armstrong killed Wilson, who was found unconscious with gunshot wounds last May in a friend’s Austin, Texas, home, out of jealousy. They said Wilson had previously been in a brief romantic relationship with Armstrong’s on-again, off-again boyfriend Colin Strickland, another professional cyclist.
Before her arrest, Armstrong fled the country to Costa Rica. Authorities eventually apprehended her after a 43-day search, during which investigators said Armstrong got a nose job and changed her hair color and style.
Armstrong made another attempt to escape while in custody as she was being transported to a medical appointment earlier this year.
After hearing two weeks’ worth of testimony, jurors took about two hours to deliver a guilty verdict for Armstrong.
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