EL CAJON, Calif. (AP) — A 41-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for setting off a homemade cannon-like device that killed his longtime girlfriend in Southern California.

U-T San Diego (http://bit.ly/1sgIF0E ) reports that Richard Dale Fox received the sentence Monday in an emotional hearing where he apologized to the victim’s family, asked forgiveness and said he lost the person that he loved most.

Fox had originally faced a murder charge but pleaded guilty in July to charges of possessing and exploding a destructive device causing great bodily injury.

Prosecutors say Fox was drinking with friends in 2012 when he set off the device that sent fragments into his trailer and killed Jeanette Ogara, who was his girlfriend and the mother of his 4-year-old daughter.

Lawyers from both sides agreed that Ogara’s death was an accident.

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Information from: U-T San Diego, http://www.utsandiego.com

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