A man convicted of killing four people, including two children, will learn how long he'll spend behind bars on Friday.
Back in April, Darrell Bellard was found guilty in the deaths of 38-year-old Dawn Yvette Brooks; her children 3-year-old Shayla Shante Sikyala and 4-year-old Shakur Sylvester Sikyala; and their aunt, 41-year-old Mwasiti Sikyala.
The family was found dead inside a trash-filled apartment above a garage in Riverdale, Md., in 2010.
Bellard's girlfriend, T'Keisha Gilmer, had previously pleaded guilty in the case and, in exchange for a lighter sentence, testified as the prosecution’s star witness, saying Bellard brought 60 pounds of marijuana from Texas to sell in the D.C. area.
When the pot disappeared from Brooks' home, Sikyala told Bellard three masked men ransacked the house and took the marijuana while Bellard was out with Gilmer, Brooks and the children.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Believing Sikyala and Brooks were involved, Bellard interrogated them. When they couldn't tell him where the marijuana was, Bellard executed them. Gilmer testified she blocked the door as Bellard shot and killed Brooks and her children.
Prosecutors wanted the death penalty, but Maryland abolished it last year.
Bellard faces life in prison without parole.
