WHITE CLOUD, Mich. (WOOD) — A man who stabbed his girlfriend and let her bleed for hours before she died in their home near Hardy Dam Pond in 2021 was sentenced to years in prison.

On Aug. 2, James Sprowls, 66, was sentenced to up to 40 years in prison for manslaughter in Newaygo County District Court, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.

Sprowls stabbed and killed 35-year-old Shannon Brown on Nov. 24, 2021, at their home in Big Prairie Township, near Hardy Dam Pond.

Court records show Sprowls told deputies he was cutting a pie with a paring knife in the kitchen when Brown came up from behind and smacked him in the back of the head. He spun with the knife in his hand and stabbed her in the right side, he told deputies.

He told deputies that he had seen people shanked in prison before but that they had survived.

Sprowls told deputies it happened about 10 a.m. He didn’t call 911 until just before 9 p.m. However, court records indicate the stabbing could have happened the day before.

During that span, Sprowls told deputies, he checked on Brown in the bathroom, tried stopping the bleeding and used a solo cup filled with water to rinse the blood.

He said he called 911 after finding her dead in the bathroom.