Brandon Corbin King (Greene County Jail) and police outside the home where he attacked his girlfriend and her family (KYTV | YouTube screenshot)
A 32-year-old Missouri man will spend the rest of his days behind bars after admitting to breaking into his 32-year-old girlfriend’s home and killing her and her 13-year-old son in an attack that also left the victim’s two other young children with severe injuries.
Circuit Judge Kaiti Greenwade on Tuesday ordered Brandon Corbin King to serve four life sentences for the 2020 New Year’s Eve slayings of Stephanie Plumb and Dylan Moore, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
King, who had been scheduled to go to trial next year, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault resulting in serious physical injury, and four counts of armed criminal action.
Greenwade ordered King to serve two sentences of life without parole for the murders, two life sentences with the opportunity for parole for the assaults, and four sentences of 15 years each for the armed criminal actions charges. In a largely symbolic gesture, Greenwade also ordered King to serve the sentences consecutively, meaning one after the other.
Prosecutors in February filed paperwork with the court indicating that they intended to seek the death penalty should King be found guilty of the murders he eventually pleaded to, records show.
According to the Springfield, Missouri, Police Department, officers responded at about 12:47 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2020, to a 911 call regarding a juvenile girl being attacked at a residence in the 2000 block of West Scott Street.
Upon arriving at the address, first responders said they found two girls, ages 14 and 7, who had been stabbed. The 14-year-old’s wounds were considered life-threatening. They were rushed to a hospital for treatment. In the home, authorities found two victims, a woman, later identified as Plumb, and a 13-year-old boy, later identified as Dylan Moore. Both appeared to have suffered multiple stab wounds and were declared dead there.
A witness told police he saw a bald white male fleeing the scene before officers arrived. Several calls came in about a man matching that description and wearing “bloody clothing” in the area near the crime scene, leading police to locate and apprehend a then-29-year-old King a short while later.
Court documents obtained by Springfield, Missouri, CBS affiliate KOLR provided additional details about King’s interviews with investigators. According to the report, King said he had recently learned that he would be facing criminal charges in a nearby county and was going to rob Plumb’s home.
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King told police he decided on Dec. 30, 2020, to “kill everyone in the house” because he was facing a new charge in Christian County and was going to flee the state, police said.
“Brandon (King) said he knew about some money at the house he could steal from (Plumb’s) mother, and he wanted to steal (Plumb’s) mother’s van,” a probable cause affidavit reportedly stated. “Brandon (King) decided to kill everyone because he didn’t want to leave any witnesses to the theft.”
King reportedly said he killed the 13-year-old boy first, then moved on to the 14-year-old, but the girl fought back, waking up Plumb, who rushed in to save her daughter and was killed. When Plumb’s 7-year-old came in to help her mother, King reportedly attacked the little girl as well, telling police he intended to kill her, but ran away when a neighbor kicked in the front door holding a gun.
“My whole world was forever changed,” said Dylan’s father to the court before King’s sentencing, the Springfield Daily Citizen reported. “Life was different and everything that used to matter meant nothing.”
Plumb’s daughter, then 14, also addressed the court, saying she felt the ordeal was somehow her fault because her screams drew the attention of her mother.
“She was the reason I was alive. I just ran. I know I will never be the same person,” she reportedly said. “I don’t look at people the same way. When I hear someone scream, I have a panic attack.”
King reportedly apologized to the surviving victims and their families before he was led out of the courtroom by bailiffs.
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