A 42-year-old Boston man who was accused of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend, a mother of six daughters, has been sentenced to life in prison.

Christopher Howard on Tuesday pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the May 2022 deadly stabbing of Terkeisha Boykins, 40.

Judge Mary Ames sentenced Howard to life in prison, with parole eligibility after 20 years.

Howard, who shared two daughters with Boykins, was apprehended in Florida a week after allegedly stabbing her to death inside her apartment.

Suffolk prosecutors told the court that shortly before 9:40 p.m. on May 10, 2022, Howard was inside a bedroom with Boykins in her Mattapan apartment.

Upon hearing commotion in the room, witnesses opened the bedroom door and saw Howard on top of Boykins, stabbing her with a knife. Howard fled the apartment and the state. He was apprehended more than 1,000 miles away in Jacksonville on May 17.

Four of Boykins’ daughters delivered victim impact statements in court on Tuesday.

“My mom was one of the most generous people that I had the blessing to call my mother,” her 18-year-old daughter said. “She was the most loving and caring person who would put anybody above herself no matter what, even if that means giving her last. She is the reason I am who I am today, and I miss her every day.”

Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden praised the survivors for their statements, and thanked the prosecution team and members of the Boston Police Homicide Unit for their work on the case.

“Terkeisha Boykins’ daughters couldn’t have been more eloquent in expressing memories of their mother, who very clearly loved them and who was very clearly loved in return,” Hayden said in a statement. “I thank them for their beautiful tributes and I thank everyone who worked so hard to bring the person responsible for Terkeisha’s tragic death to justice.”