BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) — A man has admitted his role in the 2020 killing of a Battle Creek-area woman who was murdered by her boyfriend.

Julice Haggerty pleaded guilty Wednesday to tampering with evidence in a criminal case punishable by more than 10 years in prison. A count of lying to a police officer during a violent crime investigation was dismissed.

An undated courtesy photo of Amber Griffin.

The charges stem from the June 23, 2020, death of Amber Griffin. Authorities say Griffin, a 27-year-old mother of two from Bedford Township, was killed by her boyfriend Derek Horton and Horton then buried her in some woods in Battle Creek.

Horton brought his murder trial to a halt when he led police to Griffin’s body in March of this year. In exchange, he was allowed to plead no contest to second-degree murder.

On Monday, Horton apologized to Griffin’s family before a judge “reluctantly” abided by the terms of the plea agreement and sentenced him to between 15 and 30 years in prison. The judge called the killing a “textbook” example of the worst outcomes of domestic violence.

“Not only did he kill my daughter, he chose to bury her like she was not a human person,” Griffin’s mother Carman Griffin said during the sentencing.

“We struggle with the fact that she’s never going to have a proper burial. This has been more than a murder. This is daily torture,” Carman Griffin said. “We’ll never have our Amber back.”

Authorities say Haggerty drove Horton to a hardware store to buy the shovel believed to have been used in burying Amber Griffin’s body. Haggerty’s grandfather owns both the Battle Creek home where Griffin’s blood was found and the property where her body was recovered.

Haggerty’s sentencing is scheduled for June 24.