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He was mad at his daughter's drug use. So he killed her and left pieces of her remains in trash bags.

baltimore drugs
Source: MEGA; Baltimore police

March 16 2022, Published 9:08 a.m. ET

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A man became angry with his daughter over her drug use. So, he killed her, dismembered her body and left her stuffed inside trash bags in a shopping cart.

Now, he’ll spend decades behind bars.

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This month, a judge in Maryland sentenced Malik Samartaney — who was once known as Lawrence Banks — to 41 years in prison. He was convicted of second-degree murder for the killing of his 43-year-old daughter Dominique Foster.

Foster was killed in May 2019.

Smartaney wasn’t linked to the crime by DNA or with a murder weapon, according to the Associated Press. The case was based on circumstantial evidence, such as the 68-year-old’s ex testifying she had a hard time getting in touch with Smartaney the day of the killing.

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Prosecutors said Smartaney was mad over Foster’s drug use. Some of her remains were found in bags in a shopping cart after a suspicious package was reported near a dumpster, according to the AP.

But her head, hands and feet were never found.

The defense tried to argue Foster might have been killed by MS-13 gang members, the AP reported. The defense planned to appeal the verdict.

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Judge Jennifer Schiffer told Smartaney that it was unfathomable to think of Foster’s pain, according to the Baltimore Sun.

“When she got into her father’s van that day, she had no way of knowing that she would end up in pieces in a shopping cart,” Schiffer said, according to the Sun.

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Smarteney had two previous murder convictions, previously pleading guilty to killing a friend and no contest to killing his teenage son, according to the AP. He was released from prison in 2002. But he insisted he did not play a part in his daughter’s death.

“Your honor, I’m very sorry for the death of my daughter, but I did not do that,” Samartaney said, according to the Sun. “I dream every night that I find the person who would do that.”

baltimore drugs
Source: MEGA; Baltimore police
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