A Texas man was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole in the death of his girlfriend, who was pregnant with their twin boys at the time.
Darionne Burley was found shot to death on June 29, 2020, in the passenger seat of Maurice Kelso Smith’s vehicle in Mansfield, where he left the car and carjacked a woman at gunpoint to get away, KXAS reported.
Police later found Smith at his home trying to clean the stolen vehicle and otherwise destroy evidence of the murder. Police recovered his bloody clothes and the murder weapon, which was bought illegally the day before.
Authorities said that Smith attempted to purchase a gun but was denied after undergoing an FBI background check, as CrimeOnline reported. But a man who attended the gun show with Smith and purchased the pistol confirmed he sold it to Smith later the same day.
Ballistic tests matched the gun to a bullet found in Smith’s car with Burley’s body.
The couple held a gender reveal party a month before the shooting, but the jury heard evidence that in the weeks following that party, Smith assaulted her and was using drugs heavily, KXAS said.
After his arrest, Smith told authorities that the two argued about his drug use and that she “emasculated” him by calling him a junkie. He denied killing her, however, saying that she used his car to run errands. He stopped the interview, however, when police asked him about the carjacking.
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[Featured image: Maurice Smith/Mansfield Police Department; Darionne Burley/Facebook]
