MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2010 (Updated 7:12 pm)
By RYAN SEALS
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO — A Greensboro man will spend at least the next 41 years in state prison after admitting to killing, bounding and setting a woman’s body on fire November 2008, a county judge ruled Monday.
In a separate case, a woman pleaded no contest to killing her former roommate’s pet maltese in July.
In the first case, Guilford County Superior Court Judge Andy Cromer sentenced 25-year-old Donnie Lee Ingram to between 41 to 53 years in prison for killing 61-year-old Marie Byrd in November 2008.
Byrd was found dead in her duplex at 1918-A East Market St. on Nov. 25, 2008 after neighbors reported not seeing her for several days.
Police spotted the woman’s body inside the home from a window and obtained a search warrant to enter, according to investigative records read in court Monday.
Inside, she was found dead in her bed, with her legs and wrists bound with shoelaces. The bed had been set on fire and the woman’s body was severely burned.
Tests on DNA recovered from Byrd’s body revealed matched that of Ingram, whose DNA had been entered to a nationwide database following a prior felony conviction. The case had gone cold up to that point.
Ingram admitted to police he killed Byrd after the two had been arguing over the purchase of a rock of crack cocaine, prosecutor Veronica Edmisten told the court.
At some point prior to the woman’s death, the two had sexual intercourse — which led to the recovery of the DNA evidence.
Defense attorneys argued for Cromer to be lenient in his sentencing in the case and brought in a forensic psychologist who testified Ingram is mentally retarded and did not intend to kill Byrd.
Dr. Ginger Calloway testified that Ingram knew the difference from right from wrong, though he shouldn’t be considered a threat to society he only suffered from the inability to reason and think things through.
“He knows the difference from right and wrong. He knows wrong to kill someone, tie them up and set fire to someone and not tell another person about it,” Edmisten replied.
In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors reduced his murder charge from first to second-degree and dismissed a rape charge, along with an unrelated minor offense.
In an unrelated case, a 22-year-old woman was sentenced to 18 months probation for killing her former roommate’s pet maltese last July.
Amanda Todd pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty for killing Carrie Stedman’s four-pound maltese at their Cotswald Avenue apartment on July 10.
Todd, who worked as a local dog groomer and holds a similar job now in Connecticut, admitted she threw the dog against a wall when Stedman wasn’t home.
A necropsy revealed the dog, named “Little Richard” suffered a fractured skull, eye socket and was missing teeth from the incident.
Todd admitted to drinking heavily and using cocaine the night before the killing and her attorney called the incident as “a moment in her life she cannot explain.”
Because Todd had no previous record — by law, the maximum sentence she could receive was probation.
She also must pay restitution and complete 50 hours of community service. She faces up to eight months in prison should she not abide by terms of her probation.
“This was an act of violence against something that was completely defenseless,” Cromer told Todd.
“What you do the rest of your life will make up for this. I hope.”
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