WASHINGTON — An Army sergeant accused of driving through several states to murder his estranged wife in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, in 2015 has been convicted of the charges against him.
Army Sgt. Maliek Kearney, 37, of San Antonio, Texas, was convicted Thursday by a federal grand jury of interstate travel to commit domestic violence resulting in death for the murder of his estranged wife, 24-year-old Army Pfc. Karlyn Ramirez, and for using, carrying and possessing a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence.
Prosecutors said with the help of a mistress, Kearney planned Ramirez’s murder at her home in Severn, just outside of Fort Meade, where his wife served as an Army private.
On Aug. 24, 2015, Kearney drove from South Carolina to Maryland after a day of work at Fort Jackson, where he was stationed, the U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland said. Hours later, he arrived at Ramirez’s home, entered with his key, shot his wife three times and left after placing the couple’s 4-month-old daughter in Ramirez’s arms, according to court records.
Ramirez had taken out a protective order against her husband through the Army before she was murdered.
She was found dead in her home the next morning. Prosecutors said Kearney also tried to stage the scene to make it look like a sexual assault had taken place.
Kearney’s girlfriend, 33-year-old Dolores Delgado, told a jury she helped Kearney plan the murder and cover his tracks before, during and after it took place.
Delgado testified that she provided Kearney with the murder weapon and stocked the car with large gas cans so he could drive straight to Maryland and not risk being seen when stopping to get fuel. She also would stay at Kearney’s apartment in South Carolina with his phone and his vehicle, trying to make it appear as if he was still in the state, according to court records.
After the murder, Delgado admitted to disposing of the murder weapon and the clothing Kearney was wearing during the killing in a Florida waterway.
Kearney faces life in prison; he will be sentenced in November. Delgado pleaded guilty to interstate travel to commit domestic violence resulting in death earlier this year and will be sentenced in September.
