WASHINGTON — It was July 4, 2013, when 22-year-old Howard University senior Omar Sykes was shot and killed during a robbery gone bad near campus. During his sentencing for the crime the man responsible apologized to Sykes’ mother.
Standing in an orange prison jumpsuit, Rasdavid Laguard asked to address Sykes’ mother before he was sentenced to more than 28 years for 2nd degree murder and attempted robbery while armed.
“He didn’t deserve this,” Laguard said in court.
He apologized to the court and to the Sykes family and said he is haunted by the night when he says he accidentally shot Sykes.
“I still see his face in my head everyday,” Laguard said.
The prosecution presented more than 20 victim impact statements from the people close to Sykes and his friend who he was walking with that night. Darrell Hungerford was injured in the attempted robbery.
The two were members of the Alpha Phi Omega fraterity at the school. Hungerford graduated from Howard on the day of Laguard’s sentencing.
After the sentencing, Sykes’ mother Sherry says she hopes Laguard’s remorse means he’ll rehabilitate in prison.
“It does give me hope that his time in prison will be productive, that he will come out and be a human being who won’t do anything like this again,” she says.
Sykes’ family and friends gathering outside the courthouse following the sentencing say they are glad the case is behind them.
“It has been a very trying time. Nobody wants anyone to go through anything like this … I feel justice has been served to some degree,” says Rudell Brice, the victim’s grandfather.
