ROCKVILLE, Md. — A Maryland man who viciously attacked and killed his 95-year-old neighbor in a Silver Spring retirement home has been sentenced to more than 47 years and six months in prison.
Eric Dyson, now 62, was convicted in May of second-degree murder and four theft-related charges in the stabbing death of World War II veteran Dan Belvin at the Randolph Village Senior Apartments in 2015. Dyson was sentenced on Thursday.
Prosecutors said Dyson flew into a violent rage, cutting and stabbing Belvin more than 50 times. Repeatedly calling Dyson a “user” and “manipulator,” they said Dyson had been staying without authorization in his father’s apartment down the hall from Belvin, a former Naval officer and aviator.
The two had struck up a relationship, and Belvin had been letting Dyson use his car.
Prosecutors said Belvin was killed after demanding his car keys back. They also said that after the killing, Dyson took credit and debit cards belonging to Belvin in order to get money for drugs, specifically crack cocaine.
“He’s basically lived his life as a petty thief in this community for the last 50 years,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said of Dyson. “And he will hopefully die in jail for this crime.”
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 70 years, longer than the 38 to 55 years that sentencing guidelines called for in the case. Defense lawyers had asked for a sentence of between 20 and 25 years, arguing that Dyson had been abused as a child and had cognitive limitations. They said he had an IQ of less than 70.
Dyson must serve half of his sentence before he would be eligible for parole.
