She Was About to Graduate College. Then Her Ex Claimed She 'Hurt His Feelings' and Killed Her

A Southern Illinois man has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2023 murder of his ex-girlfriend, state prosecutors announced this week.

Emmet Metzger was sentenced to serve his “natural life in prison” for the first-degree murder of his ex-girlfriend Alexis Maki on Nov. 4, 2023, the Clinton County State’s Attorney J.D. Brandmeyer announced in a press release on Monday, roughly two months after the 27-year-old pleaded guilty to Maki’s murder.

Metzger pleaded guilty to shooting Maki multiple times while in her apartment, according to The Belleville News-Democrat. Soon after the murder, Metzger called 911 and admitted to the shooting while pleading for his own arrest, according to the newspaper, as well as KSDK and First Alert 4.

“I f**ked up,” Metzger said in the 911 call, according to First Alert 4. “I did something so bad. I shot my girlfriend. I need to be arrested, please?”

According to the News-Democrat, Maki was a college student soon set to graduate at the time of her murder.

Brandmeyer, the Clinton County State’s Attorney, said in his news release this week that Metzger’s defense attorneys argued for a lesser sentence while alleging he required psychiatric help. 

The state prosecutor brushed off the claim, saying Metzger had never been prescribed psychiatric medications in the past and claiming that he “was not interested” in taking psychiatric medication currently. The state’s attorney alleged Metzger had been consuming cocaine, THC and alcohol in the hours leading up to the shooting and was upset over his and Maki’s breakup.

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“There is no excuse for killing someone in cold blood after a breakup,” Brandmeyer told the court at Metzger’s sentencing. “Certainly, hurting someone’s feelings cannot be the slightest…justification for ending the life of a young woman that had her entire life ahead of her.”

Brandmeyer went further in saying that Metzger “still has his life” and that “it’s a tragedy that Ms. Maki doesn’t.”

Associate Circuit Judge Douglas C. Gruenke handed down the life sentence to Metzger on Monday, adding that the convicted murderer would not receive credit for the year and a half he’s already spent in custody.