She Rejected Co-Worker's Advances and Texted Him to Stop Touching Her. The Next Day, He Murdered Her

A Minnesota man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing a co-worker in 2022 who repeatedly rejected his sexual advances.

Michael Jordan Carpenter was given a life sentence without parole last week after he was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree intentional murder, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced.

Carpenter, 38, was convicted in August for killing his co-worker, Nicole Hammond, the morning after they had an argument over text about his repeated advances.

“Carpenter approached Hammond before her work shift in the parking lot of Dubow Textile, armed with a 9mm pistol, and fired a single shot through Hammond’s neck,” the attorney general said in a news release.

“My thoughts are with Nicole Hammond’s friends, family, and community today. Nicole was a talented, kind, and caring soul who loved art and nature. She will be missed by many,” Ellison added in a statement. “I am pleased that today, the Court held Michael Carpenter fully accountable for the crime he committed. I hope this accountability is eventually able to bring some measure of peace to Nicole’s loved ones.”

Carpenter was arrested less than three hours after killing Hammond, PEOPLE previously reported. Text messages on her phone showed the pair had an argument the night before in which she told him "she did not want to be touched or manipulated by him," police said at the time in a statement.

Local Fox 9 also reported at the time that multiple coworkers were aware of Carpenter’s repeated harassment of Hammond, who was 28 when she was murdered. But their boss told the outlet that "unfortunately, we had no idea,” because no report was ever made to upper management.

"Any time there is anything that requires our intervention we step in. But in this case we had no indication that there was anything awry,” Hammond’s boss Rob Dubow told Fox 9.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. 

Dubow remembered Hammond as someone who “always had a smile on her face, and anybody who had any association with her couldn’t help but like her."

At the time of her death, Hammond was “in the process of starting her own jewelry business,” according to her obituary.

“Nikki was a very talented writer and also enjoyed working on her car with her father, Steve,” her obituary added. “Nikki loved hiking, kayaking, photography, beading, traveling and the ocean.  She eventually wanted to move to Fort Meyers, Fla.  Nikki will be dearly missed by all who knew her.”