A D.C. man will serve 40 years in prison for murdering a man at a Montgomery County, Maryland, recovery home in 2013. He’s the first of three men to be sentenced in the case.
Bryan Byrd, 31, was sentenced Friday in a Montgomery County Circuit Court to life in prison, suspending all but 40 years and five years of supervised probation upon release.
On Nov. 6, 2013, at around 11 p.m. Byrd and two other men broke into an addiction recovery home on Grenoble Drive in Rockville, Maryland.
The intended target of the break-in was no longer living in the home.
They confronted three other men that were living at the home, police said. A struggle broke out and they shot and killed Alexander Buie.
No arrests were made in the case until 2019. A key piece of evidence was the gun used in the murder.
It was found in the possession of Vaughn Bellamy, who was also convicted of first degree murder in the same September trial as Byrd.
He was found with the gun in Prince George’s County about seven months later during another unrelated homicide investigation. Bellamy is currently serving a prison sentence related to that case, and will be sentenced in the murder of Buie on Dec. 13.
“This was a case of mistaken identity. Alexander Buie was a truly innocent victim, and lost his life at a time when he was trying to maintain his sobriety and get his life back on a positive path,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy in a statement. “Justice will now be served for the family of Mr. Buie, as the men responsible for his death are being held accountable.”
A third defendant, has pleaded guilty to armed robbery and is also awaiting sentencing.
