Justin Parris is charged with murdering his grandfather back in 2009.
The Gonzales family says they can now find closure in this brutal slaying, even though they say they will most likely never know the answer to one question: Why?
For his family, 81-year-old Johnnie Gonzales was always there.
"My grandfather was my best friend," Johnnie Gonzales III said. "I grew up with him living right next door to me, so I saw him every single day."
Johnnie Gonzales III remembers that November day in 2009, when his grandfather was left forever. He was stabbed multiple times and beheaded inside of his home. The killer, police say, was his own grandson.
"There is shame in there, but then again, it's just like if anyone else killed your father, you would do what you needed to do to seek justice," said Gonzales' daughter, Monica Shiel.
Justice came nearly four years later, Just last week, Parris pleaded guilty to the murder after accepting a plea deal.
"In a sense, I'm happy that it didn't go to trial. Just the trauma that we would face, all the other family members, my kids," Shiel said.
Yet Shiel says there will still be a hole in her heart. She hoped a trial would being out the truth, especially and a motive.
"At least the person who did it is going to get what he deserves," Johnnie Gonzales III said.
On Thursday morning, the family will get a chance to address Parris in court.
"May God have mercy on your soul. That's it. No I forgive you. I don't forgive him. There's nothing that could justify what he did and where he did it," Johnnie Gonzales III said.
Gonzales was a World War II veteran.
Parris underwent a full mental evaluation and was found competent to stand trial.
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