BBCCharlotte Wilcock's mother told the court her daughter's murder happened "in the very place she should have felt safe"A man who murdered a woman he did not know as she sat on her doorstep while her 15-month-old baby slept upstairs has been jailed for life.
Anthony Stinson, 31, kicked and stamped on Charlotte Wilcock at her Blackburn home just after 21:00 GMT on 3 March before stabbing her multiple times.
The attack meant her baby was left alone in the property until police were alerted the next day.
He was jailed for at least 24 years and two months at Preston Crown Court.
Lancashire Police said Stinson, of Blackburn, said Stinson changed his clothing and buried her phone after the attack, before walking across the town and using a passer-by's phone to call 999.
The force said he told the operator he had "literally walked past somebody when they were sat at their doorstep and I thought I seen the devil, so I kicked them in the face and… I think I've killed them".
An investigation later found that less than an hour, Stinson had been drinking alcohol, taking cocaine and making rap videos with a friend, which included lyrics referring to killing somebody.
'Whole world fell apart'
CCTV footage captured shortly before the attack also showed Stinson, who had 11 previous convictions for offences including rape and battery, withdrawing cash, buying whiskey and cigarettes and having a conversation with a shopkeeper.
His attack on Ms Wilcock left her with about 100 injuries, including numerous wounds to her hands from where she tried to defend herself.
At police interview, he continued to state he was suffering from psychosis at the time of the attack, a defence he maintained until the first day of his trial, when he changed his plea to guilty after psychiatric reports failed to support his claims.
Lancashire ConstabularyPolice said Stinson "went out that night... intent on causing someone harm"In a victim impact statement, Ms Wilcock's mother Carol Smalley told the court her "whole world fell apart" when she heard what had happened to her youngest daughter.
She said the murder was the "sort of thing you see in TV and films", had happened "in the very place she should have felt safe" and was not "something you ever imagine".
She added that Ms Wilcox had been her best friend and the attack had also "left two beautiful children without their mum".
Speaking after sentencing, Det Ch Insp Mark Haworth-Oates said despite his claims, Stinson "went out that night, having consumed large quantities of drugs and alcohol and with a knife in his pocket, intent on causing someone harm".
"Our belief is that it could have been anyone that he attacked that night - but, sadly for Charlotte and all who knew and loved her, it was her that he chose and only he will ever truly know the reason why," he said.
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