GRETNA, La. (AP) — The man accused of gunning down a suburban New Orleans’ sheriff’s detective nearly eight years ago pleaded guilty Wednesday in his death.

Jerman Neveaux, 27, of New Orleans, was scheduled to begin trial next week on charges of first-degree murder in the 2016 death of Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Detective David Michel Jr., 50. Had Neveaux been convicted as charged, he could have faced the possibility of the death penalty. Instead, Neveaux agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

“This has truly been a nightmare that I can’t wake up out of,” Michel’s wife, Angela, told the court while giving victim impact testimony to a courtroom packed with grieving relatives and friends, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.

“I just can’t understand why... It’s been my question for eight years. Why? Why? Why something so senseless?” she asked of Neveaux, who sat handcuffed at a defense table.