ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – A mother exclusively spoke to NEWS10 ABC through tears about her daughter.

Her daughter Shelby Countermine was murdered by Ted Mero. Her beaten body was found in May 2015 by a jogger along an access pathway owned by the Albany City Water Department where Mero had been working before Shelby’s disappearance.

“I wish you had a chance to meet my Shelby because you would have seen what she was meant to be, my god. She was so much more. She was worthy and beautiful, and she was mine. She was my baby that I couldn’t wait to have.”

Lori Dean remembering her daughter Shelby following Mero’s sentencing.

“She was a light and that’s how I want people to think of her. We miss her, and we missed her every day while she was missing. We still miss her very much.”

Dean is thankful for everyone who was involved in bringing Mero to justice.

“They never gave up on Shelby. And she deserved it. She deserved for them to fight for her.”

And for showing her there are still good people in the world.

“The evil that Ted Mero is on this earth, the presence that he is, the goodness that I found with the men in this room and the women in this room trumped it, and that’s what I’m going to take away from this.”

She is grateful that Mero is off the streets, unable to hurt anyone again.

“I’ll never be the same. But I’m thankful for today.”

She touched on her fear for anyone who has a child struggling with addiction like she says her daughter did.

“One time that we made a decision or she chose a path that led her to the next door and the next door that opened up the world where Ted Mero was stalking people.”

Saying none of that made Shelby a lesser person.

“I just couldn’t let that happen. No matter what, that wasn’t going to be the final ending to this.”

Knowing Shelby was by her side every minute of the day.

“I had a dream about Shelby last night. She was waving at me with a big smile. She knew what today was and she was with me.”