Baltimore man sentenced to 41 years for killing and dismembering his daughter

BALTIMORE (TCD) --  A 68-year-old man will spend the rest of his life in jail for killing and dismembering his daughter in 2019 and leaving her body in trash bags.

The Baltimore Sun reports Malik Samartaney, who was previously known as Lawrence Banks, was sentenced to 41 years in prison Monday, Feb. 28. His attorney reportedly plans to appeal the verdict.

On May 12, 2019, a woman’s body was reportedly found near a dumpster at Clarks Lane Garden Apartments, according to the Baltimore Police Department. Police said the victim’s body was "wrapped up and placed inside of a shopping cart." In July, Baltimore Police announced they arrested Samartaney for the death of his daughter, 43-year-old Dominique Foster. He was reportedly already in jail on unrelated charges.

According to the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, surveillance footage reportedly showed a "male figure pushing the shopping cart to its final resting place" on the evening of May 10, 2019. The bags reportedly contained Foster’s naked torso, which was tied with a cord. Her head, hands, and feet were missing.

Foster reportedly got into Samartaney’s car that day, and cellphone data reportedly shows him in the vicinity of the dumpster around the time she was left there.

He was convicted Oct. 4, 2021, on charges of second-degree murder and unauthorized disposal of a body.

The Baltimore Sun reports Circuit Judge Jennifer Schiffer said in court at the sentencing, "Mr. Samartaney refers to his 'nightmare.' It is unfathomable to think of the nightmare Dominique Foster suffered. When she got into her father’s van that day, she had no way of knowing that she would end up in pieces in a shopping cart."

Samartaney’s attorney reportedly argued during the trial that Foster could have been killed by members of the MS-13 gang, not her father. The Baltimore Sun reports prosecutors said Samartaney was angry at his daughter because of her drug addiction.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Samartaney has been convicted of murder two other times. He reportedly pleaded guilty in the 1990s to killing his friends and then pleaded no contest to killing his son. He was released in 2002. He also previously threw Foster through a glass door when she was 7 months old.

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