A Toronto man who sexually assaulted and strangled a young woman hours after they met has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Kalen Schlatter was convicted Monday of first-degree murder in the killing of 22-year-old Tess Richey.

The conviction carries an automatic sentence, which was handed down today in a Toronto courtroom.

During the hearing, relatives and friends of Richey also voiced their grief at losing their loved one, whom they described as fierce, generous and kind.

Tess Richey, 22, went missing on Nov. 25, 2017 after a night out with a high school friend. Her body was found four days later. (Tess Richey/Facebook)

Court heard Schlatter and Richey met after leaving the same club in the early hours of Nov. 25, 2017.

Richey's body was found days later, by her mother and a family friend, at the bottom of an outdoor stairwell.