Man Gets Life Sentence for Stray Bullet Killing

A Lanham man was sentenced today to life in prison plus 20 years in the 2007 slaying of a woman who was struck by a stray bullet in her Prince George's County home.

At the sentencing this morning, Circuit Court Judge Maureen M. Lamasney told Robert W. Francis there was no justification for his conduct.

"It's hard to imagine an event that was more senseless than this event," she said. "This is probably the nightmare of every citizen in Prince George's County."

Francis, 20, was found guilty in October of involuntary manslaughter, attempted murder and other offenses in the shooting on March 16, 2007. According to testimony at his trial, Francis and another young man, Robert T. Stamp, were firing from a moving car at an admitted marijuana dealer with whom they were clashing. The dealer, Dexter DeLeon, was wounded and his pit bull, Domino, was killed.

Theodora Summers, 40, a hotel restaurant hostess, was struck in the head by a stray shot as she was getting ready for work at her home in the 6700 block of 96th Avenue in Lanham. Summers, who was home alone at the time, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Francis did not visibly react and did not speak during the sentencing hearing today.

After Francis's trial, Stamp, 22, of the 9900 block of Good Luck Road, was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He had pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree murder. In return for a sentence that would have allowed for parole, Stamp agreed to testify against Francis, but later reneged.

State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey personally tried the case against Francis, with two assistant state's attorneys. "Justice has been meted out for the brutal murder of an innocent woman gunned down randomly in the prime of life," Ivey said in a statement.