Mother of slain South Carolina student says suspected killer has 'taken away a piece of our heart'

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- (KTLA) -- Nathaniel David Rowland, the accused killer of a University of South Carolina student, wasn't in court Sunday, but that didn't stop the victim's mother from ripping into him in a statement to the judge.

“It sickens us to think that his face was the last thing that my baby girl saw on this earth. Does he even know her name?” Marci Josephson said in court, according to CNN affiliate WIS-TV.

Her daughter, Samantha Josephson, 21, was found dead in a field Friday afternoon about 14 hours after getting into a vehicle she mistakenly thought was her Uber, said police in Columbia, South Carolina. After Rowland's arrest, police found Josephson's blood and her cellphone in his vehicle, police said.

“His selfish, unspeakable and violent actions have created a hole in the universe,” Marci Josephson said. “A hole in our universe and we see the unimaginable ripple. …”

She said her daughter worked hard, was due to graduate from USC in May and had planned to go to law school in September. Marci Josephson said she didn't understand how a person could “randomly select a person, a beautiful girl and steal her life away.”

“There are no words to describe the immense pain, his actions have caused our family and friends. He's taken away a piece of our heart, soul and life,” Josephson said.