Watson's mother then read a statement from the perspective of her dead daughter in which she talked of never again seeing sunrises or sunsets, holding those who supported her dreams, never getting the chance to turn 21 or come home again for the holidays, to bond with her sister as adults, to have her own child with whom to bond as a mother, to pursue her passion of a dancing career.

Jackie Watson then shifted to her own perspective to share what the loss of her daughter meant to her.

"The day Jenni-Lyn was born was the beginning of my life," she said, noting how much she and Jenni-Lyn were alike. The pain from losing her daughter was "excruciating," she said.

"Half of me died. I will certainly never be complete," she added. The loss of a member of their family left the entire family out of balance, she told Aloi.

"I will limp for the rest of my days," she said.

She ended by adding she hoped parole officials would take all of the family's loss into consideration when Pieper comes up for parole.

Watson's father was the last of the relatives to address the court. He had to pause several times to regain his composure as he struggled to read through his statement.

He began by expressing the pain of a father who had not been able to protect his daughter and to protect the rest of his family from the pain of losing that daughter.

"This pain I will have for the rest of my life," he somberly noted.

"This is our legacy now," he told Aloi.

He, too, sang the praises of the daughter who was murdered. He said she always cared for the underdog and was raised to respect all living things and to do her best in life.

"She put her life and soul into her art, her family, friends and life," he said.

She was no threat to anyone and Pieper took advantage of the kind of person Jenni-Lyn was, David Watson said.

His voice turned momentarily angry as he talked about what he said were Pieper's "greedy and cowardly needs" and his inability to let Jenni-Lyn live her own life without him.

"He didn't want to share Jenni-Lyn's time or feelings with anyone," he said.

David Watson said his daughter had asked the family to try and like Pieper, but he felt Pieper never truly respected their family. He said he asked his daughter in early November if she thought Pieper made her a better person in her own life.

He said his daughter struggled with that question before realizing the answer was "no." But she wanted to handle the breakup in an adult fashion without ever having an unkind word to say about Pieper, he said.

"He can't be trusted and he would be a threat to society," the victim's father said, noting Pieper had lied to his daughter throughout their relationship.

Fitzpatrick picked up on that theme, noting Pieper lied to his family, his lawyer, his friends and the police when Watson turned up missing. Leaving the Watson family with the slightest bit of hope that there daughter would return amounted to "unimaginable cruelty" on Pieper's part, the prosecutor said.

David Watson is denied the opportunity to walk his daughter down the wedding aisle, Jackie is denied the opportunity to spoil grandchildren and Lauren is denied the opportunity for future counsel from her sister all because Pieper "couldn't take no for an answer," Fitzpatrick said.

Aloi commended the Watson family for how they handled the tragedy.

"They will survive. I know they will," the judge told Pieper. But their hearts have been broken forever, he added.

"You did that," the judge said.

Aloi noted when a woman loses her husband, she is called a widow. When a husband loses a wife, he is called a widower. When a child loses parents, he or she is called an orphan, the judge said.

"There is no word for a parent who loses a child," Aloi said. "That's how awful it is."

Read more:

Read the court statements of David and Jackie Watson

See six videos from court.

Read our previous coverage.

Read the transcript of DA Fitzpatrick's live Q&A on the Watson murder, Pieper guilty plea