Man Convicted Of Killing 4, Including 2 Toddlers, Over Drug Stash
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) -- A Texas man has been convicted of fatally shooting four people, including two toddlers, after 60 pounds of marijuana went missing.
Darrell Lynn Bellard, 47, of Dickinson, Texas, was convicted Thursday by a Prince George's County jury on four counts of first-degree murder in the 2010 slayings.
Thirty-eight-year-old Dawn Brooks; her children, 3-year-old Shayla Sikyala and 4-year-old Shakur Sikyala; and the children's aunt, 41-year-old Mwasiti Sikyala, were found dead in a trash-filled apartment above a detached garage in Lanham.
State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks announced her intention to seek the death penalty for Bellard when she took office in 2011. Maryland abolished the death penalty last year, and Alsobrooks is seeking a term of life without parole.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 29.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
