Man sentenced to 25 years for woman's murder

Krystal Heskin rescued stray pets and nursed sick family members.

She was kind and caring and she didn't judge.

Hardly anyone showed her the same consideration -- in life or death -- her father said Wednesday during an emotional victim-impact speech at the Rolling Meadows court facility.

The 31-year-old, formerly from Grayslake, was murdered more than two years ago at the Motel 6 on Oakton Street in Elk Grove Village. She died of blunt force trauma after being bludgeoned repeatedly with a hammer.

On Wednesday, a Chicago man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the crime.

Sadly, it wasn't Heskin's death -- or her life -- that drew people's attention, her father Robert said Wednesday.

Rather, her father said, people -- "people who hate and despise those not considered normal" -- fixated on his daughter's decision to live as a woman though she was born a male.

"One day in her life was more difficult than all my years on the force," said Heskin, a former Chicago police officer.

Krystal Heskin's friends, family and transgender advocacy groups have sharply criticized media coverage of her death. They blasted reporters for putting her gender in quotation marks, for printing statements from police that referred to her as "it," for repeatedly discussing her anatomy after the medical examiner identified her as a male and for speculating about sexual motives behind the crime.

"She never received any respect or justice in life," said Heskin. "I hope she receives justice in death."

Cook County Judge Thomas Fecarotta Jr. sentenced Davis to 25 years in prison Wednesday as part of a negotiated plea deal. Before he accepted the deal, Fecarotta polled family members to make sure they were satisfied with the sentence.

As part of the deal, family members were allowed to read statements about the murder victim and the devastating effects of her murder.

Her mother, Jennie, sobbed as she described her "laughing, loving" youngest child.

Her sister, Victoria, sobbed as she described her "warm, caring" youngest sibling and best friend.

Both Heskin's father and brother are decorated Chicago police officers, Jennie said, and neither father nor son can accept that he saves lives for a living -- but couldn't save Krystal.

"I've seen my husband become a shell of the man he used to be," Jennie said.

Davis, who turned 23 Wednesday, killed Heskin after visiting her on April 16, 2006, at the Motel 6 where she had been living, prosecutors said.

The two had been friends for years but got in a fight that night, police said.

Police found Heskin's Xbox and cell phone at Davis' residence, prosecutors said.

Davis admitted to the killing and led police to the murder weapon, which he had stashed in a viaduct near the motel, prosecutors said.

After sentencing, Davis addressed Heskin's family and friends, who came to court month after month over the two years of legal proceedings.

"I apologize for the pain and hurt," Davis told them. "It was not my intent to kill … I honestly apologize."

Jennie Heskin said she's come to realize that nothing -- no amount of hate, no prison sentence -- can ease the pain of her daughter's death.

"I'm not even mad at Michael Davis," Jennie told the court. "Instead I feel sorry for him … He's not had his family here."

Fecarotta said the statement was a testament to the type of family that she came from.

"I've never seen a more gracious family to a defendant," Fecarotta said.