FORT VALLEY, Ga. — Although her killer is headed to prison for life, Anitra Gunn's family says a part of them is still missing.
On Tuesday, a Peach County jury found Demarcus Little guilty of felony murder and aggravated assault.
Minutes later, he was sentenced to life in prison without possible parole.
Emmanuel Nelson says he and his first cousin Anitra Gunn were almost inseparable.
"Real, real close -- like, real close," he laughed.
He says some days, he thinks back to their childhood.
"Growing up with each other, we always used to just play around and liked playing outside. Sometimes, we used to get in trouble doing something we had no business doing," Nelson recalled.
The one thing he misses most is her voice, something she was known for
"She had a voice out of this world, ooh. Sometimes, it just does something to you when you hear somebody singing a certain way," he smiled.
But for more than a week, as he and his family sat through the trial of Demarcus Little, they heard things that brought back the pain.
"What really hurt me the most is just how he threw her body out there like it wasn't nothing and then you try and lie about it," he said.
Nelson was the relative who had an emotional outburst in court after seeing photos of Gunn's body in the woods.
He says seeing Little sit in court showing no remorse bothered him, too.
"For him to just sit up there and think that he can live his best life after you took someone's family member, somebody's sister, cousin, niece, nephew, somebody's child and have no remorse about it at all, that hurts," he continued.
Just before Judge Connie Williford sentenced Little, the family asked for the maximum sentence.
He was sentenced to life without possible parole, and in that, Nelson says the family finds closure.
"I feel like he got what he deserved, and our family finally has closure after two whole years of pain and depression, and just waking up every day just knowing she's not here anymore," he said.
Right now, there is no word on when Little’s friend Jaivon Abron will be tried.