By The Associated Press

DECATUR — A northeastern Indiana who stabbed his girlfriend more than two dozen times “to stop the sick god” was sentenced Wednesday to 55 years in prison.

Austin Griffith, 35, of Decatur, learned his punishment after pleading guilty but mentally ill to murder in the death of Kayla Bentley, 34, on Sept. 12, 2019, at her Berne home.

An Adams County judge ordered Griffith to serve 55 years of a 65-year sentence in prison.

Adams County Prosecutor Jeremy Brown said Griffith asked to take back his guilty plea, but a judge denied that.

Police who arrived at Bentley's apartment found her sitting on a chair that she dragged herself to after the attack, The Journal Gazette reported.

“I had to stop the sick god,” Griffith told a Berne police officer, according to court documents. “I had to stop it or humanity was at risk. My God, Satan, blessed her with no pain.”

The guilty but mentally ill plea means Griffith will be treated for mental illness in prison.