KENT COUNTY, Mich. — The man found guilty last month of murdering a Rockford woman in her home in September 2021 has been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
In March, Jacob Ryan was found guilty on all counts in the stabbing death of 25-year-old Cierra Paul and for attacking her two young children in 2021. It happened at a home in the 7000 block of Cannon Place Drive NE back on Sept. 16, 2021. Ryan and Paul were dating at the time.
Ryan was also found guilty of cutting her two children, who were 2 years old and 5 years old at the time. They have since recovered.
Ryan appeared in court for his sentencing Thursday morning. There, he heard emotional statements from Paul's sister, her aunt Effie Threats and a close friend.
Threats said she sees her niece and nephew, Paul's children who were attacked in the incident, each weekend. She said the kids were playing hide-and-seek in her closet recently when her niece saw a T-shirt with Paul's photo on it and began calling to her brother.
"'Come here, I found Mommy, she’s been hiding from us, here she is,'" Threats said in court. "And they just stayed there in that closet for the longest, looking at the T-shirt with their mother’s picture on there. And I just don’t understand why he had to do what he did to her.”
Ryan also spoke in court, saying he recognized the impact of his actions.
“I know I made a horrible choice, I know I live with the consequences day after day. I know I did something that cannot be forgiven,” Ryan said. “And one day I will have to answer for what I’ve done. There’s nothing I can say that can make anybody feel any better.”
At one point during his statement, a member of Paul's family called him a monster.
According to court documents filed in the case, a woman called 911 to check on the home. The caller stated Ryan had Facetimed her and he had "bloody hands that looked stabbed up."
Ryan allegedly told the woman he came home and found Paul dead, her 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son missing, and he was heading to Georgia.
Deputies found Paul dead in the living room with stab wounds. Her children were also found with cuts to their throat. A family member said the children are now in the care of their father.
"We believe she died trying to save the children she loved so dearly. That makes her a hero in our eyes. We pray for them everyday and know they were spared by a loving God for a purpose," said Lynn Ramirez, a family friend.
The affidavit continues to read that Ryan's cousin talked with him the day before Paul's body was found and Ryan told him that "Ciara left him at the food court and he was going to make her pay and be on the run."
The cousin then got another call from Ryan later the same day where Ryan said he needed to take care of business. "During the call, Jacob said, 'there she is standing there' and then hung up the phone."
The cousin added Ryan has some mental issues with angry outbursts.
Ryan was later arrested in Toledo, Ohio. Authorities said he had significant cuts to his hands, and blood on his luggage and belongings.
►Ryan's full sentencing can be seen here:
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