An enthralled courtroom watched as one of the women detained by Ariel Castro for over a decade vowed to overcome everything that he had done to her as Castro was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years, according to the Washington Post.
Michelle Knight, the first of the three women to be kidnapped, read a statement to the courtroom detailing her eleven years as a captive. She spoke about missing her son and how she wouldn't have made it through if it wasn't for her friendship with Gina DeJesus, according to CNN.
"You took 11 years of my life away, and I have got it back," Knight said. "I spent 11 years in hell, and now your hell is just beginning. I will overcome all of this that happened, but you will face hell for eternity."
While Knight made the statement just a few feet away from the man who imprisoned her she did not look over toward him once. Castro would go to church every Sunday while he held the women captive, a hypocrisy that Knight brought up in her statement, according to Fox News.
"What does God think of you hypocritically going to church each Sunday and then coming home to torture us?" Knight said. "The death penalty would be the easy way out. You don't deserve that. We want you to spend the rest of your life in prison."
Castro gave a long and rambling statement denying that he was a violent person and blaming all of his crimes on being a sex addict and his former wife who is now deceased. Castro argued with the judge claiming that rape was not a violent crime and saying that much of the sex he had with the women was consensual, according to Fox News.
"I know what I did was wrong, but I am not a violent person," the 53-year-old Castro said. "I simply kept them there without them being able to leave."
In his statement Castro apologized to Knight, DeJesus and Amanda Berry many times although he did not take blame for his actions, according to the Washington Post.
"I am not a monster. I am a normal person. I am just sick," Castro said. "I have an addiction. Just like an alcoholic has an addiction."
Knight was the only one of the three women who attended the sentencing. Berry and DeJesus were represented in court by relatives, according to the Washington Post.
"Our beloved family member thrives," Sylvia Colon, a cousin of DeJesus, said in a statement. "She laughs, she swims, she dances...She will finish school, go to college and, when she chooses, fall in love and get married."
Amanda Berry's sister, Beth Serrano, cried while explaining that her family did not want to discuss the ordeal in public because Berry will need to explain the situation to her daughter, who Castro fathered, when the time comes, according to the Washington Post.
"Amanda did not control anything for a long time. Can we just let her have control over this, so she can protect her daughter?" Serrano said. "She will do anything to protect her daughter."
Knight closed her statement by expressing empathy for others who are suffering and marveling at how after experiencing so much pain that there is still good in the world.
"Writing this statement gave me the strength to be a stronger woman, and know that there's good - there is more good than evil," Knight said. "I know that there is a lot of people going through hard times, but we need to reach out a hand and hold them and let them know that they're being heard.
"After 11 years, I am finally being heard, and it's liberating," Knight said. "Thank you, all. I love you. God bless you."
