A California jury this week convicted a 31-year-old man of shooting his 23-year-old girlfriend in the head while she was driving with four small children in the car, causing the car to crash into the Sacramento River.
Mandiko Kwadzo then got out of the partially submerged car and stood aside without making any move to help Carliena Clayton or the children, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said.
Two fisherman saw the crash and rushed over to help, retrieving the children from the car while the murderer stood there, as CrimeOnline reported. One of the good Samaritans, Harrel Fischer, said he tried to get Clayton out, but she was covered in blood and had no pulse.
The children ranged in age from 2 to 6. The oldest told police that Kwadzo shot his mom, the district attorney’s office said.
Police took Kwadzo into custody. Investigators discovered that Clayton had been shot twice, but the gun was never recovered.
The DA’s office said taht West Sacramento police officers were initially sent to Clayton’s home on reports of shots fired. A witness told the officers they saw Clayton and Kwadzo arguing in the driveway before both got into a car with the four children, Kwadzo in the passenger seat. Police found evidence of a shooting inside the home, but the car and the family weren’t found until the crash into the river at Cliff’s Marina.
Kwadzo was found guilty of first degree murder and using a firearm to commit the murder and faces a maximum of 53 years in prison when he is sentenced on September 6.
