Maryland authorities sentenced a man to life in prison for a 1979 murder that went unsolved for decades, the Charles County State’s Attorney Office announced Friday.
The court handed Andre Taylor, 63, a life sentence for the murder of Vickie Lynn Belk, who was found naked from the waist down and shot in the right side of the head in a wooded area of Prince George’s County 45 years ago, according to the announcement.
Belk’s boyfriend initially called the Prince George’s County Police August 28, 1979 and reported her missing after she didn’t return to her apartment, the announcement said. (RELATED: REPORT: Man Allegedly Confesses To ‘Brutal, Ice-Blooded Murder’ Committed 44 Years Ago)
DC man receives life sentence after DNA evidence links him to 1979 cold case murderhttps://t.co/kA9RlQOlfr
— 13WHAM (@13WHAM) August 25, 2024
Belk had last been seen the previous day where both she and her boyfriend worked in Washington, DC, according to the attorney’s office.
Since there were no leads in the case, it went cold until Detective Sergeant John Elliot of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) reopened the investigation using new forensics technology, the attorney’s office said.
In 2022, the CCSO’s Forensic Science Section, using new technology, analyzed Belk’s clothing and found a DNA match that implicated Taylor in the murder, according to the announcement.
Although Taylor had no known address since 2019, authorities were able to track him down in Washington, DC where he admitted to raping Belk but denied killing her, the announcement said.
There is no evidence to indicate that Belk, who was 28 years old when the crime was committed, knew the 18-year-old Taylor, according to the attorney’s office.
During sentencing, Assistant State’s Attorney John Stackhouse told the court that the case caused “generational trauma because it went on for 45 years. [Belk’s] son grew up without a mother. Her parents had to bury their daughter. Her parents had to lay on their deathbed not knowing who killed their daughter. Her grandchildren never got a chance to meet their grandmother.”
Before sentencing Taylor to life in prison, the Honorable Judge West said, “[The incident was] so heinous, I can’t think of a lesser sentence that would be appropriate.”