A Chattanooga man was sentenced Thursday to 45 years in prison for murdering a mother and her young daughter.

Gabriel Fitzgerald Boykins was found guilty in June of two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the killings of Tamara Church, 40, and her daughter, Aquarious Church, 8.

In Hamilton County Criminal Court, Boykins, 50 at the time of his conviction, was sentenced to 20 years for murdering Tamara Church and 25 years for Aquarious Church, with the prison terms running consecutively.

"Is there any greater cruelty than a child watching her mother be hurt or a mother watching her child be hurt?" Judge Amanda Dunn said. "One of them watched the other die."

Boykins, 50, maintained his innocence and showed no remorse, according to Dunn, but the evidence told a differ

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