BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – A Bloomington man pleaded guilty Friday to stabbing his wife to death with a pocket knife in front of her four young children as she was trying to leave him.

Martwain Phillips, 28, stared at the floor and cried as he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison in a deal with prosecutors, who dropped two other first-degree murder charges.

Phillips had faced up to 60 years in prison if convicted in the Feb. 13 stabbing death of 23-year-old Lena Murphy Phillips.

McLean County Assistant State’s Attorney Jane Foster said the victim’s family agreed to the plea deal to spare the children from testifying about their mother’s death.

“They witnessed a horrific, horrific crime, watched their mother die in front of them. We wanted to do all we could to protect them from further harm and trauma by having to come to court and testify and face the defendant,” Foster said.

Prosecutors say Phillips came home early from work and found that his wife was planning to leave him and take the couple’s two children and her two children, all under the age of 7.

The couple argued as Phillips begged his wife not to leave, prosecutors said. When she refused and pushed her husband away, Phillips told police he “lost it” and stabbed her in the back with a pocket knife as she tried to open the door.

Phillips left the apartment after stabbing his wife 13 times, and the children locked the door behind him, refusing to let him back in when he returned, prosecutors said. One child called her grandmother, who then contacted police.

When police arrived, they said the children were covered in blood, and the oldest told them that, “Daddy killed Mommy.”

Phillips fled after the killing, but confessed when he was arrested two days later at his brother’s home in Grand Rapids, Mich., authorities said.

Phillips’ court-appointed attorney declined to comment after Friday’s sentencing.

Foster said the children now are living with grandparents and doing “as well as can be expected.”

“They are in a loving home,” Foster said. “They are very fortunate that they have grandparents who could step in and take them into their home and provide them with a loving and stable environment.”