COBB COUNTY, Ga. – The time one teen will have to spend in prison for allegedly murdering her cousin will never be enough for the victim's father.
Olivia Nicole Smith was sentenced to the maximum 20 years behind bars with the chance for parole in 17-year-old Abbey Hebert's killing. Abbey was stabbed to death.
"No amount of years is going to bring my child back," said Steve Herbert, Abbey's dad.
11Alive's Jon Shirek was inside the courtroom when Smith was allowed to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter, a lesser charge than what she had been facing.
It was an emotionally-charged appearance throughout. Smith was visibly sobbing during proceedings, and at one point, Abbey's father shouted, and even threatened, Smith. He let her know that while his daughter may have been able to forgive what happened, he would not.
"It's not meant for me to forgive her. I'm not there," Steve said. "Abbey was a brilliant young lady, a heart of gold. I told everybody I would never refer to Abbey in the past tense. She's here with us today."
He also pledged to be at every parole hearing for Smith, to make sure she serves her time.
Smith, then 18, was indicted for stabbing her step-cousin, 17-year-old Abbey Herbert, to death in her front yard on November 14, 2015. It was a murder that left everyone in the girls' lives reeling.
Authorities said Smith and Herbert had smoked marijuana shortly before they got into an argument while eating their breakfast that they had bought from Chick-fil-A earlier that day.
Police say Smith then stabbed Herbert inside the house and then chased her outside and stabbed her multiples times.
"To be stabbed 10 to 20 times, as I talked to the detectives, I think this was a jealous rage," Steve Herbert said.
"She brutally murdered my child," he said.
A passerby witnessed the entire attack. According to police, the witness saw Smith on top of Herbert stabbing her.
During a December court hearing, Detective Matt Fuller testified that Smith ran a neighbor’s doorbell after the attack and told the neighbor that God made her do it.
“She made statements after ringing and knocking on the doorbell saying God had made her do it,” Detective Fuller said.
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