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A Comstock Township man told his young son to run to his grandmother's house because he had just shot the boy's mother, then followed the two boys there and confessed to his own father before deputies arrived, according to Kalamazoo County court testimony and a recording of the resulting 911 call.

Nancy Kovach, 40, died of a gunshot wound to the head at the family's home in the 6900 block of East Main Street on June 17, 2013, the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office said. Her husband, John Kovach, 42, was arraigned the next day on a charge of first degree murder.

At a preliminary hearing, the couple's older son, then 10, testified that the shooting followed an argument that began while his mother helped him make dinner in the kitchen. He said his father grabbed his mother by the hair and announced he wanted a divorce before storming into a bedroom, and that she followed moments later, according to his testimony.

John Kovach walked the two boys, ages 10 and 8, to his parents' house nearby and told them, "Go to your grandma's. I just shot your mom," the older son testified. From that house, the elder Kovach placed the call to 911, telling a dispatcher that his son had just shown up and disclosed killing his wife, then passed the phone to John Kovach, who described the shooting himself before deputies reached the address, a recording of the call shows.

Deputy Steven Compo, one of the first officers on scene, testified that Kovach walked out with his hands raised and admitted shooting his wife. Kovach said he was sorry and added that he had been called "a lousy husband and father" for a decade, the deputy told the court.

Kovach initially faced a possible life sentence but pleaded guilty in September 2013 to second degree murder and a felony firearm charge under a plea deal. He told the court he had planned to shoot himself that night until his wife confronted him and called him a coward, at which point he turned the gun on her instead.

Kalamazoo County Circuit Judge Alexander Lipsey sentenced Kovach on Sept. 30, 2013, to 18 to 30 years in prison for the murder, plus a mandatory two years on the firearm count. The couple's two sons were being raised by relatives following their mother's death, court records from the time show.