Through sobs, Sherry Ann Henderson apologized and lamented the fatal stabbing of her fiance, Addison Hillard, who she said had “a big heart and loved everybody.”

“I apologize for the hurt and pain I caused (the family) and for what I done,” Henderson said during her sentencing hearing Thursday. Her remarks were met by weeping in the gallery.

“They truly loved him. And I miss him so much,” Henderson said. “I have to live with this for the rest of my life.”

Henderson, 48, pleaded guilty in October to second-degree murder for the stabbing death of Hillard in their apartment in May. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

She told the court she hoped one day her family and Hillard’s “will find it in their hearts to forgive me,” and told the judge, “I need help to get through this.”

Ramsey County District Judge Diane Alshouse encouraged Henderson to do just that. “You need some counseling in order to forgive yourself.”

After the hearing, relatives of both Henderson and Hillard were reluctant to comment, but they did say that Henderson and Hillard loved each other and that Henderson’s actions, though reprehensible, were fueled by alcohol. “If she could turn back the hands of time, I know she would,” said Hillard’s stepdaughter, Sherry Richards.

During her October plea hearing, Henderson — also known as Sherry Taylor — admitted that on May 29 she and Hillard were drinking and arguing in their apartment in the 200 block of Birmingham Street in St. Paul. She said she didn’t remember picking up the knife or stabbing Hillard, but admitted that the state’s evidence against her would have convinced a jury that she killed him.

She said she had been intoxicated, but when she became more lucid and realized something was wrong, she cleaned Hillard up, covered him with a blanket and lay next to him.

Asked during her plea hearing why she didn’t call anyone for help until the next morning, Henderson said, “I wasn’t ready to let him go. I wanted to be with him. I was scared.”

Elizabeth Mohr can be reached at 651-228-5162. Follow her at twitter.com/LizMohr.