Mother faces daughter's killer in court

A mother faced her daughter's killer in court on Thursday - more than a year after her daughter was murdered.

Twenty-nine-year-old Donald Bricker was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Thursday during a three and a half hour long hearing. Bricker stood in court with 24-year-old victim, Mariam Folashade Adebayo's family. Adebayo and Bricker were supposedly in a relationship at the time of the killing. Bricker shot Adebayo after the two got into a fight. She died a short time later.

According to police, Adebayo was meeting her boyfriend to talk about their problems. Witnesses saw them fighting in her car in the parking lot. The meeting turned into a tragedy as Bricker fatally shot his girlfriend as she ran away from him.

"To see my sister get out of the car and be gunned down by that coward it really hurt," Tiffany Attakorah, the victim's sister said.

While in court on Thursday the victim's family watched the surveillance video of the moments Adebayo was shot in cold blood after trying to escape from her car at a target in Germantown. She's followed by a cloud a smoke - after a replica black powder revolver was fired by Bricker.

Adebayo's mother says sentencing is the first step in getting closure.

"It does not take a day to forget the love that you have nursed to somebody for 24 years. It never goes away," Cassandra Atkens, the victim's mother said.

While in court Atkens poured her heart out reading an emotional letter to Judge Dugan - shaking at times -saying her beautiful happy daughter's future was taken away by a man who claimed to love her - but shot her in the torso and head.

That man also spoke in court.

"Here's a man who says I don't want to be here I don't want to be here. And then gets up for an hour and says effectively nothing. How about one word of condolences to the family?" said John McCarthy, Montgomery County State's Attorney.

Judge Dugan became visibly outraged saying Bricker was trying to manipulate the situation like he tried to manipulate the victim, and never once in that hour said "I'm sorry." The judge handed down the maximum sentence possible in Maryland because he believes the murder was premeditated - pointing out Bricker even had target practice before the murder. Bricker will now spend life in prison.