A judge sentenced a Fairfield lawyer to 12 years in prison Friday for stabbing his next-door neighbor to death.

Jonathan Edington pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He said he believed his neighbor, Barry James, had molested his 2-year-old daughter.

The attack happened a year ago in the home where James lived with his elderly parents. Edington claims he snapped after his wife told him that their daughter claimed James had molested her. However, investigators later found no proof she was molested or that the daughter even pretended it did.

The James family was in the courtroom, and family members said this is something they'll never recover from.

?I just can?t believe that they could take a life and that?s all he got?he should?ve went for 50 years,? said Rita James, the victim?s mother. ?We?re heartbroken, we?ll never get over this.?

Edington did not make a statement in court and did not apologize to the family.