The sister of Robert Pomerleau, who was fatally stabbed by a man who'd taken him in, said at the sentencing for her brother's killer that she can't get out of her head "the vision of Robbie struggling to avoid the 10-inch knife used to stab him in the chest."

"It's horrible to think about his suffering at the hand of someone he thought was his friend," Sheree Grigerek said.

Patrick McInerney, 45, of 39 Tilley St. will serve 18 years in prison for fatally stabbing Pomerleau, 49, on Dec. 10, 2017. McInerney faced a murder charge but pleaded guilty in February to the reduced charge of first-degree manslaughter under a plea agreement worked out between prosecutor Stephen M. Carney and defense attorney Kevin C. Barrs.

He was sentenced Thursday by Judge Hillary B. Strackbein to 20 years in prison, suspended after 18 years served, followed by five years of probation. The conditions of his probation include no possession or use of alcohol, drugs or weapons, and he must undergo substance abuse evaluation and treatment, mental health evaluation and treatment, anger management, alcohol and drug testing, and must either work or perform 50 hours of community service a year.

Jane Pomerleau, Robert's mother, said she was driving on Dec. 10, 2017, when she got a call from Grigerek telling her to pull over because she had to tell her something. Grigerek told her mother she had to go to the New London Police Department to identify Robert's body.

"My son was a kind and gentle and generous man. Everyone loved him," Jane Pomerleau said. "I have a hard time talking about it and how he was killed."

According to the court record, McInerney, a self-employed painter, let Pomerleau, a native of the Bristol area, stay at his apartment at 39 Tilley St. after Pomerleau was released from prison. Pomerleau had been sentenced to nine months in prison for violation of a protective order and disorderly conduct.

A female witness said a dispute about rent led to McInerney grabbing a knife from a kitchen drawer and stabbing Pomerleau once in the left side of the chest. Pomerleau, bleeding from the puncture wound, was taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Both Robert's mother and sister discussed how difficult it was to read the details of his death and referenced the 10-inch knife used to stab him.

"My heart is so broken, I don't want to think about the man who murdered him. It's too awful. No one should die like that," Jane Pomerleau said.

Robert, or Robbie, as he was called by his friends and family, was her only son, she said. He would help her in the yard and "do all the things I couldn't reach," and would frequently call her to check in and see how she was doing.

He left behind a 3-year-old daughter, Jolie, who is too young to understand what happened to her father. A talented artist, Robert left behind drawings, paintings and cards for Jolie, which she is "lucky" to have, Grigerek said, "but that will not replace the love she will never feel from her father." Grigerek said it "haunts" her to think about the day when Jolie is old enough to have a conversation about what happened to her father.

McInerney, who appeared in court in handcuffs and a tan prison suit, looked over at Pomerleau's mother, sister and good friend as they read their statements. McInerney wrote a letter of apology to the victim's family and friends, which he partially read from Thursday.

"I'm so, so sorry for what I did. I'm sorry for your loss. There's no question whatsoever that Robert did not deserve to lose his life, especially in such a blatant and stupid and unnecessary manner," McInerney said.

He confessed to being an alcoholic for a long time, and that'd he been drinking pretty much daily "for the better part of 20 years, minus some intermittent periods of sobriety." In the past five to six years, he said, on certain occasions while in "blackout," he would become unpredictable and sometimes violent.

But he acknowledged that his drinking was not an excuse and did not justify his actions.

"I should've had the foresight to realize something serious was going to happen, and I should've had the determination to quit drinking, and I didn't. I'm really sorry," he said.

j.bergman@theday.com