Sterling Heights man gets life in prison without parole for 'brutally' stabbing girlfriend to death in 2021, stealing her car

(WWJ) — A Sterling Heights man has been sentenced to life in prison for stabbing his girlfriend to death in 2021.

Jason Ross, 50 was found guilty last month of 10 counts, including first-degree murder, in the death of 47-year-old Kathleen Hales.

On Thursday Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Sabaugh formally sentenced Ross to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Prosecutors say Ross “brutally murdered” 47-year-old Kathleen Hales on Saturday, July 2024, 2021. He stabbed her multiple times and hit her with a hammer at their Sterling Heights home.

Ross hid her body before stealing her car and fleeing with her credit cards and prescription drugs, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Ross was later arrested in Prescott — about 50 miles north of Bay City — where police found one of the murder weapons and her belongings.

In addition to the murder charge, Ross was found guilty of larceny from a building, unlawful driving away of a motor vehicle and stealing a financial transaction device without consent.

Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido said the medical examiner described the suffering Hales endured as “nothing short of torture.”

"As a community, we cannot tolerate such acts of brutality. This sentence ensures that justice is served for the victim, her family, and all those affected by this senseless violence,” Lucido said in a press release Thursday. Our thoughts are with the loved ones who continue to grieve, and we hope this conviction brings them some measure of peace.”