ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) — A Rio Rancho man convicted of raping and killing a six-year-old when he was 21 years old was sentenced to life in prison. It will be more than 45 years before he’s eligible for parole.

Six-year-old Ariana Jade Romeo was raped and murdered in the Rio Rancho home she and her mother shared with Leland Hust and others. Thursday, her mother and many other family members addressed Hust and they did not hold back.

“You purposely went into her room that night and she never walked out. You are the very definition of a monster and I feel like you should meet the same outcome as her times 100,” says Joseph Romeo, father of Ariana Jade Romeo, in a written statement.

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“I think the only solace in any of our hearts is knowing that the man who was and is capable of such a depraved act to an innocent child spend the maximum amount of time locked away so girls like Jade can be just little girls and not worry about the monster coming to get them,” says Stephanie Romeo, mother of Ariana Jade Romeo.

“The defendant is a sick, twisted, perverted bastard. He brutally raped and murdered my niece. And there is a special place in hell for people like him,” says Romeo’s aunt, Jessica.

The statements from the family were emotional—asking for Hust to get the maximum sentence. Hust sat emotionless. Six-year-old Ariana Jade Romeo lived in the home with Hust and at least seven others. The little girl was found partially naked and strangled on a bloody mattress on the floor in August of 2018.

During the investigation, officers discovered people were in and out of the home, and Romeo was forced to sleep on the floor. The owner of the home was linked to another child sex abuse case.

Thursday the defense asked the court to make Hust eligible for parole after 20 years instead of 30 and to allow him to serve both sentences at the same time, citing a troubled upbringing. Judge George Eichwald wasn’t swayed:”I can’t find enough adjectives to describe the house of horrors where this took place or the brutality and viciousness of the time that you raped and murdered a little girl.”

Hust’s first trial ended in a hung jury but he was convicted in the second of Child Abuse resulting in Death and Criminal Sexual Penetration of a Minor. His attorney said in his arguments for early parole that Hust maintains his innocence and that is why he hasn’t shown any remorse.

The sentence handed down today was life for the murder, and 18 years for the rape. The charges will run consecutively. Hust has to serve 30 years for the murder, and more than 15 years for the rape, before becoming eligible for parole.