HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. – A man accused of trying to kill a well-known metro Detroit pastor has been sentenced to prison.
Wesley McLemore, 41, pleaded guilty to attempted murder charges for breaking into the Highland Park home of the Rev. Kevin Ramsby in 2009 and stabbing him 37 times.
Ramsby, who is the pastor at Revival Tabernacle Church, managed to crawl out of his home after the attack and scream for help.
In an interview with Local 4 following the attack, Ramsby said his doctors told him it was nothing short of a miracle that he survived.
Police said they were able to track down McLemore by using fingerprints and other evidence taken from the home.
McLemore was sentenced Monday to 18 to 40 years in prison.
At the sentencing, Ramsby remembered his feelings immediately after the attack.
"As I waited there to die, I doubted where God was for those moments. Soon afterward, I realized he was a lot closer than I thought," Ramsby said.
McLemore spoke briefly, expressing regrets.
"I hat that it happened and I apologize to him," McLemore said.
But McLemore also said he regretted pleading guilty, which brought a rebuke from Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Annette Berry.
"You stabbed this gentleman 37 times. It's by the grace of God that this gentleman is still alive" Berry said.
Ramsby said he would be praying for McLemore every single day.
"He has that promise from me. And not out of anger or spite or vindictiveness ... I really believe that God can take a man like Wesley McLemore and do far more than he could ever dream or imagine, even in the circumstances," Ramsby said. "That's my prayer for him."
-Wesley McLemore
