Man sentenced for murder of Maryland father, dumping body in woods
Family outraged after man gets 30 years in Maryland father’s murder
The family of 35-year-old Lonnie Sawyer says they are heartbroken and angry after D’Angelo McRoy was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in Sawyer’s killing during an armed robbery. Prosecutors said the sentence fell well below state guidelines, while Sawyer’s sister said the family feels the justice system failed them.
ROCKVILLE, Md. - One of the men convicted of murdering a Maryland father in 2024 and dumping his body in the woods was sentenced on Friday to 30 years in prison plus a suspended life sentence.
The victim's family says the sentence doesn't go far enough.
Murder sentence
What we know:
DeAngelo McRoy was sentenced on Friday for the murder of Delondre Sawyer.
The sentencing guideline in this case was life plus 30 years, but Judge Sharon Burrell decided to suspend the life sentence. McRoy will be eligible for parole in about 15 years.
Victim’s family ‘heartbroken, angry’ over sentence
What they're saying:
Sawyer’s family said they were deeply disappointed with Friday’s sentence.
His sister, Jasmine Hawkins, told FOX 5 in a statement:
"The judge minimized the fact that he helped orchestrate the entire robbery and then participated in discarding our brother’s lifeless body as if his life meant nothing. That is something our family will never be able to erase from our minds or our hearts. It is incredibly difficult for us to understand how these actions could result in such a lenient sentence. We are heartbroken, angry, and extremely disappointed with this ruling. We trusted the justice system to fully recognize the seriousness of what was done to our brother, and today, we feel that the justice system failed him and failed our family."
RELATED: 3 charged with murder of man found dead in woods in Gaithersburg
Prosecutor calls sentence ‘extremely disappointing’
Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said prosecutors were also frustrated with the sentence.
"It’s frustrating for us and our hearts and thoughts go out to the family because they were hoping for something in the range of what should happen for a person in this position with this record, with his age, with the offenses he’s been convicted of and we didn’t get anything near that sentence," McCarthy told FOX 5.
McCarthy noted that McRoy was not the person prosecutors say fired the fatal shot, but said McRoy participated in the robbery and what happened afterward.
McCarthy said Sawyer was stripped naked in the woods and his body was discarded "like trash."
Maryland father found murdered, dumped in woods
3 arrested for killing Germantown father, dumping body in woods
Three people are in jail in Montgomery County, charged with the murder of a 35-year-old father. Police say the suspects shot Delondre Levert Sawyer inside of his car, then dumped his body in the woods in Gaithersburg.
The backstory:
McRoy is one of just three people charged with Sawyer's murder. Police say Sawyer met McRoy, along with Quinnton Eric Brown and Alicia Carson-Brown at an apartment in Germantown on Feb. 8, 2024.
Sawyer was driving his mom's car when he was shot, and police said the group robbed him and dumped his body in the woods off Game Preserve Road in Gaithersburg.
Police said the suspects were caught on surveillance cameras at a Sheetz in Germantown near the dump site, trying to use Sawyer's stolen credit cards.
Brown was convicted of pulling the trigger last month. He will be sentenced in October. He faces a maximum sentence of life plus 135 years. Carson-Brown recently received a shorter sentence after cooperating with police.
The Source: Information in this story is from reporting by FOX 5 DC's Bob Barnard.