Man gets 40 years for deadly shooting stemming from domestic argument

February 5, 2015 at 4:32 PM EST - Updated July 21 at 5:33 PM

John Washington sits in court Thursday morning waiting for his hearing. (Source: WIS)

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A Northeast Columbia man was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the shooting death of his estranged girlfriend in 2013.

John Washington pleaded guilty to murder on Thursday morning in Richland County and was immediately sentenced.

He was charged in the 2013 shooting death of his estranged girlfriend, Zelda Kollock.

Prosecutors said Kollock and Washington had been in a relationship for several years until Kollock broke it off. Following the break-up, Washington continued to make contact with Kollock, which concerned her enough to have her attorney send her ex a cease-and-desist letter.

On September 14, Washington showed up at Kollock's Heather Green subdivision home, chased her inside and shot her multiple times, prosecutors said.

After the shooting, Washington crashed his car on an Interstate 77 on-ramp from Killian Road.