Connor McCowan Sentenced to 20-60 Years for Murder of Andrew Singler

Connor McCowan, 19, was sentenced 20 to 60 years in prison this month in the stabbing death of Rochester native and Michigan State University student Andrew Singler, 23, according to Janis Singler, Andrew's mother. 

According to the Huffington Post, McCowan was convicted on Oct. 15 of second-degree murder after the jury deliberated for six hours. He had originally been charged with open murder, allowing him to be convicted of manslaughter, second-degree murder or first-degree murder. He was sentenced Nov. 6.

According to the report, the two men had become friends with Singler was dating McCowan's older sister, Shay. After the couple got into a fight while they were intoxicated, Shay McCowan text-messaged her brother, stating the two had had a physical altercation and she was left with a broken rib and back. She later admitted in a court testimony that the texts about her injuries were untrue. 

The two reportedly argued over texts and tweets before McCowan showed up at Singler's doorstep early on Feb. 23 and stabbed Singler twice in front of one of Singler's roommates. 

Singler was a musician and a soccer player with a "ridiculous and contagious laugh," according to a report in The State News, the campus newspaper for Michigan State. Read more memories of Singler here.