Three days before nine-year-old Amber Lucius was drugged and burned alive by her mother, her parents' divorce was finalized, confirming her father would have full custody.
"I miss my daughter with my whole heart," said Duane Lucius in his victim impact statement on Friday. "I still remember the first day I held her in my arms."
"I will never forgive her and I will never forget my daughter," said Lucius.
With a photo of his dead daughter beside him, Lucius stood in the courtroom's witness box and told the judge he struggles to be strong.
"The saddest day of my life ... was when I was told Amber was found dead in an SUV."
During the sentencing hearing, Amber's now-17-year-old sister watched the proceedings from a remote witness room.
The girl too fragile to be in the same room as her mother was accompanied by her father and the RCMP trauma dog, Ringo.