SANTA CRUZ >> Dozens of supporters of Alice “Alyx” Herrmann crowded into a packed courtroom Thursday to direct their heartbreak and rage at her convicted murderer.

Standing before the court, brother Eric Herrmann described the frantic first weeks when he first believed his sister to be missing, extending through end-of-year holidays and a dimming of hope. Since learning of her death, Eric Herrmann said the grief had been overwhelming.

“Losing her was like losing half of myself,” he said.

The six-week trial featured a surprise three-hour audio recording discovered on Alyx Herrmann’s phone that featured the last several hours of her life. The emotionally affecting recording was played in its entirety during the trial, including her last gasps for air at the hands of El Cerrito man Theobald Lengyel.

“She recorded that evening for a reason. She wanted to be heard and so we listened,” friend Theresa Mulder said in comments to the court. “We listened to the ultimate betrayal.”

Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Nancy de la Peña sentenced Lengyel, at times known as Milo Stone, to a prison term of 25 years to life for a charge of first-degree murder. Lengyel, 54, will receive credit for 311 days of time served and will be eligible for parole.

De la Peña, in remarks after handing down her sentence, urged those in the standing-room-only courtroom to reach out to even those they believe are strong and independent, to seek help with troubled relationships.

“There is something that she still gives here,” de la Peña said. “She gives each and every person who’s here in this courtroom the reason to remember to love every moment that you have.”

Alyx Herrmann’s daughter, Dorothy Scheurer, told the court that restitution and justice were impossible. Nothing could bring back her mother and “right the scales of justice.”

“She cannot be brought back to life,” Scheurer said.

Claire Carroll, a family friend who traveled from Hawaii for the day’s sentencing, said the malicious act of murdering Alyx Herrmann had affected many from far and wide.

“I will always hold her memory, her smile, her shrugging shoulders and her humbleness,” Carroll said.

Alyx Herrmann, Lengyel’s girlfriend of five years and a member of the Outrigger Santa Cruz paddling club, was killed at her Capitola home Dec. 4. After an extensive missing person’s search, her body was ultimately discovered in a shallow grave beneath a pile of rocks in the East Bay’s Tilden Regional Park on Jan. 2.

Lengyel, who did not testify at his trial, provided remarks before his sentencing. He thanked Alyx Herrmann’s loved ones for showing up for the hearing and talked about the bright light she shone on others.

“Her death is a tragedy that is sort of pure. There’s no benefit to anybody from it. There’s no silver lining to it at all,” Lengyel said. “There is nothing I can say that would make a difference and I’m sorry.”

Alyx Herrmann had been working two jobs, financially supporting Lengyel since he lost his job in 2019, with the goal of retiring and moving to live with family in Hawaii by her 62nd birthday in March, her brother said.

“Alyx said to him in her final moments, ‘I will never trust you again,’” Eric Herrmann said of his sister’s voice on her final audio recording. “Neither should any of us.”