A 24-year-old Texas man was sentenced to 52 years in prison after pleading guilty to beheading his wife in front of their children and putting her head in the freezer.

David Dauzat pleaded guilty to the murder and beheading of his wife, Natasha Dauzat, 21, on Aug. 25, 2016, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported.

Dauzat plead guilty before retired Judge George Allen, after Judge Matt Johnson rejected a proposed plea agreement that would have given Dauzat 1 50-year sentence.

Prosecutors and Dauzat’s defense team agreed on the guilty plea prior to Dauzat’s sentencing, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported.

Prosecutor Michael Jarrett said the plea agreement was reached with the health of the former couple’s children in mind.

Dauzat’s brother called police twice the morning of Natasha Dauzat’s death after receiving a series odd phone calls from Dauzat.

Police earlier did a welfare check at the couple’s home but didn’t report anything unusual.

Dauzat called his brother again, to say he had killed his wife.

He later told investigators he killed her with a knife while their 1-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter were home.

Dauzat also admitted to using drugs before killing his wife, though it’s not clear what he took and when.

Affidavits show that he and his wife had smoked marijuana early in the day.

An autopsy report showed that Natasha Dauzat died from at least 43 knife wounds and other “sharp-force injuries, including decapitation,” the Waco Tribune-Herald reported.

Dauzat must serve at least 26 years of his sentence before he becomes eligible for parole.

The victim’s mother said that Dauzat deserves to die a slow, painful death, like the one her daughter suffered, according to a victim-impact statement, the Waco-Tribune Herald reported.

She said she prays every day fro him to die.