NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio -- A North Ridgeville man will serve up to life in prison for the 2015 shooting death of his wife in front of her 4-year-old grandson.

Ronald Svec, 77, was found guilty Wednesday of murder by a Lorain County Common Pleas Court jury. He was immediately sentenced to 18 years to life in prison by Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Miraldi, court records show.

Ronald Svec called 911 on Nov. 6, 2015, and told a dispatcher that he shot his 69-year-old wife, Gloria Svec, because she pointed at knife at him at their home in the 5900 block of Jaycox Road.

Officers went to the home and found Gloria Svec in the kitchen. She was unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds, police said.

She was taken to St. Johns Medical Center in Westlake where she was later pronounced dead.

Gloria Svec worked at the Murray Ridge Center in Elyria, helping people with developmental disabilities. Co-workers and friends described her as a kind-hearted person who loved the people she worked with.

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