Youth Pastor Sobs Asking Forgiveness After Stabbing Wife & 5 Kids and Setting Home on Fire

The former youth pastor entered a guilty plea back in February on two charges of attempted first-degree murder, following an attack on his family on September 16, 2023. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to 29 years and five months in prison, receiving credit for 558 days already served.

The sentence followed the recommended length by the DA, as part of the plea deal -- though Richards' family asked for a lighter prison term. He was originally charged with five counts of attempted murder.

The attack on Richards' family went down at their home in 2023, with authorities responding to several calls involving a fire and stabbing. One of the callers was one of Richards' children, who said they had been stabbed -- while a witness reportedly said, "The children said their dad had gone from room to room throughout the house and stabbed them."

According to his arrest affidavit, via Law&Crime, responding officers determined Richards' wife and five children -- four boys, one daughter, only one of whom was above 18 -- had been stabbed. One of the kids said they were "all in bed" when the attack happened. Richards had also set fire to the house.

He later admitted to police that he "stabbed my family," saying they were supposed to be evicted the following day from their house, but nobody else in the family knew. Calling himself a "monster," he also recalled one of his sons asking him, "Dad why do you have the knife?"

Per the affidavit, the children had slashes to the neck, colon, liver, back and arm.

Richards addressed the court during the sentencing hearing, getting incredibly emotional as he spoke to the judge and addressed his family.

"Through my actions, I brought disgrace, shame, humiliation and sorrow on myself, my family, kids and classrooms, on soccer fields, trusted friends and my community," he began. "This came from my own shame that kept me from reviewing my faults and sins because I was afraid of the truth. I was afraid to ask for help. The shame and fear led me further down a path that brought out not only disgrace but also violence into the lives of my family."

He said he will "live every day knowing I caused that trauma and disgrace," saying that is "far worse" than any prison sentence.

"To my wife and kids and the rest of my family, I'm sorry for the multiple levels of destruction and pain that will take a lifetime to overcome," he said, crying.

"While I do offer a short apology today, the most important words and apologies will one day, hopefully soon, be shared and should be shared in private moments ... and at a time when they are ready," he continued. "Those moments will be the hardest moments of my life."

Richards said that while he always strived to "do what is good, healthy and right" he "fooled" himself "into believing I could bury my failures and my lies and go on living with no consequences."

He concluded his statement by saying he has since "sought change to improve" himself, before reading from scripture about forgiveness -- concluding, "which is something I know I don't deserve."

Richards' mother also spoke, calling him, "My little boy yesterday. My friend today. My son forever." In her short statement, she added, "Never forget that I am so proud of you and I love you more than anything in this world."

His sister, Mary White, addressed the court as well -- saying she was speaking "on behalf" of both her brother and sister-in-law.

"I believe that this is a very unique case. This is not one that a bad guy did a bad thing. It's good guy that did a bad thing," she began. "There are consequences to this and no one is denying this situation. Nobody. We all know there's consequences."

"However, this is a good guy. And there's a reason my sister-in-law had to go get her own representation because the DA did not want to listen to her wishes or wants," she added. "I think that those children don't need to be apart from their father for that long, honestly. He was a present father."

"He's a wonderful man who helped everybody that he could. He just didn't know how to help himself," she continued, saying her brother struggles with mental illness, one they now know how to treat.

"I think being gone for that long, away from everybody, would do more harm than good," she concluded. "I'm just asking mercy, sir, that you would take mercy ... he is a loving, present father that still needs to be in their life."