SYRACUSE (AP) -- A 45-year-old homeless man who stabbed his grandmother to death while stealing money for his cocaine habit will spend 23 years to life in state prison.

Onondaga County Judge William Walsh told MacArthur Davis he'd never seen such a reprehensible crime in his years as a judge or lawyer.

Davis apologized to relatives in the courtroom, but also claimed he had no recollection of the crime and would never have intentionally harmed Allean Davis. The 78-year-old victim was strangled and repeatedly stabbed in her apartment in December 2007.

Davis pleaded guilty last month after his trial began. He tried to get an adjournment of his sentencing to get married before heading off to state prison, but Walsh refused.

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