A man who pleaded guilty to killing his ex-girlfriend in the parking lot of a Target store in Maryland was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The family of Marie Folasade "Sade" Adebayo said "justice is served" after the sentencing, Meagan Fitzgerald reported.
"We are so pleased with the judge's decision," said the victim's mother, Cassandra Atkins I know it's not going to bring her back, but this is a start for the closure."
Donald Bricker Jr. twice confessed to shooting Adebayo, 24, in Germantown in June 2015 and told the judge he was guilty in December.
Bricker was supposed to be sentenced in April but instead fired his attorney and asked to withdraw his plea. A judge denied his request in July.
Bricker, a registered sex offender, "circumvented" the system and purchased an antique-style weapon that operates using black powder through the mail, prosecutors said. Bricker used the replica antique firearm to kill Adebayo the same day he received it, Assistant State’s Attorney Debbie Feinstein said.
"As a convicted sex offender, he was prohibited from owning a firearm, but because of a gap in the law, he could order online a black powder revolver," State's Attorney John McCarthy said.
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The case motivated McCarthy to try to change state law.
"To close the gap that exists in Maryland handgun laws that would allow a person on sex offender registry to purchase a handgun," he said.
A video of investigators interviewing Bricker shortly after the slaying shows him confessing.
“All I can remember is her getting out the passenger side door, and then I shot her and then I shot her again,” he said.
Asked why he shot her, he said he didn’t know.
At sentencing, prosecutors showed video of the moments Bricker shot and killed her, including a shot from point blank.
"Just seeing my sister get out of the car and be gunned down by the coward, it really hurt," her sister Tiffany said.
"How dare you! How dare you!" Adebayo's mother said as she looked at Bricker while delivering an emotional speech. "I feel like I'm drowning in the ocean gasping for air."
"You had the opportunity to listen to her mom pour her heart out," the judge said. "Not one time did you apologize to that woman for taking her baby girl."
Adebayo, a graduate of the University of Maryland, had dated Bricker for about six months, her family said. The couple broke up, but she agreed to meet him in the Target parking lot to talk.
Witnesses outside the store heard Bricker and Adebayo arguing in a car. Bricker shot Adebayo when she got out of his truck and then stood over her and shot her again at close range, prosecutors said.
Her mother never met Bricker and said her daughter didn't know he had been convicted of rape in 2008 and was a registered sex offender.
Adebayo dreamed of helping others by becoming a counselor, her family previously told News4.
