LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB/WAVE) — A Louisville man was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to stabbing and beating his former girlfriend to death inside her Okolona apartment in 2023.
A Jefferson County judge sentenced 38-year-old Rashawn Betts to life in prison without the possibility of parole for at least 25 years. Betts pleaded guilty in June to murder, burglary, assault, wanton endangerment, failure to render aid and reckless driving.
Betts turned himself in to police less than two weeks after he fatally stabbed 44-year-old Amy Skelton on Nov. 8, 2023, in the 5000 block of Greenbridge Way.
According to court records, Betts shot through the apartment door several times to break the lock before forcing his way inside.
Police said he hit Skelton in the face with a handgun. Betts then went to the kitchen, grabbed two large kitchen knives and stabbed Skelton to death.
Several family members, including her daughter and 4-year-old grandson, were inside the apartment at the time.
During the emotional sentencing Friday, Skelton's daughter told the court she was forced to choose between trying to save her mother and protecting her young son.
"My son, even, 4 years old, is fighting for his life, screaming, 'Pap stop, pap stop,'" she said. "I had to make a choice that nobody should have to make. Am I going to save my mother, the one who gave me life, or my child, the one I gave life?"
She said Betts had been part of their family for years and that she once viewed him as a father.
"It was hard because we all knew him to be the one to be a part of our life," she said. "I couldn't believe that he was trying to kill me and kill my mom and my son also."
Betts will be available for parole in 25 years.
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