Lincoln Park man gets 26 years for killing prostitute at River North hotel

A Lincoln Park man was sentenced to 26 years in prison Monday for fatally stabbing a prostitute at a boutique hotel in the River North neighborhood in 2011.

Christopher Love, 27, was found guilty of murder on Sept. 4, according to Cook County court records. Judge Arthur Hill sentenced him to 26 years on Monday.

The body of Sarai Michaels, a mother of five, was found dead at the Hotel Felix at 111 W. Huron Street in October 2011.She was a former model whose life had unraveled in recent years, her estranged husband Stephen Michaels told the Chicago Sun-Times following her death.

Originally from Minneapolis, the 31-year-old Michaels had modeled for catalogs and in a 7-Up advertisement before giving birth to her oldest daughter, he added.

The couple also had a son, but when their marriage fell apart, she became involved with a man who beat her and “led her down the wrong path,” Stephen Michaels said.

Sarai Michaels most recently lived in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Her children had been taken away by the state, according to court testimony.

A jury found Love guilty of murder after just two hours of deliberation. He will receive credit for 1,511 days served in the Cook County Jail.