The daughter of a slain man cried in court Monday as she testified about the impact of his death on her family.

Jeyarasan Manikarajah was killed in June 2014 by his next-door neighbour, Amalan Thandapanithesigar.

Thandapanithesigar was convicted by a jury earlier last month of second-degree murder, and arguments about his sentencing were heard in court Monday.

He will receive a life sentence, but the time until he is eligible for parole is up to the judge, with a minimum wait of ten years and a maximum of 25.

Crown prosecutor Dennis Galiatsatos is arguing Thandapanithesigar wait at least 17 years before he can ask for parole.

"He murdered a refugee, a man who fled his own country to be saved from hardship, only to be murdered from someone from his own community," he said.

Galiatsatos brought forth the victim's daughter, who testified how her family came to Canada from Sri Lanka to escape a civil war, and found it extraordinarily difficult to cope with her father's murder.

"Our life is very different since we got the news of my father's death at the police station. It all happened very fast, it's as if our family was pushed off a cliff," she said.

Manikarajah and Thandapanithesigar knew each other in Sri Lanka.

Thandapanithesigar tried to explain his actions during the trial by saying he had drunk too much alcohol, and was frustrated over the multiple times that Manikarajah had catcalled his wife and insulted him from next door.

In tears, Thandapanithesigar pleaded for a shorter sentence.

"I'm very, very sorry,” he said. “I'm not a killer. I wanted to come to Canada. I didn't want to kill anyone. I'm really sorry for the family."

He then turned to the victim’s daughter and added, "I never had the intention of killing your father. You know me." 

The defence is pushing for a ten-year sentence, hightlighting the fact that he has been a model prisoner since his arrest, that he gave up drinking and does not fit the profile of a dangerous murderer.

The hearing is expected to end Tuesday and the sentence will come down at a later date.