Life plus 125 years in prison for gunman who brutally murdered man as parents witnessed attack

WALDORF, Md. - A gunman who attacked a man at his Charles County home while his parents watched and then brutally murdered him nearby was sentenced to life plus 125 years in prison, officials say.

Richard Eugene Middleton, Jr., 39, was sentenced Wednesday for the 2020 first-degree murder of Kwasi Louard-Clarke and the attempted murder of two others.

Authorities say Middleton and Louard-Clarke were involved in an altercation at a barber shop on June 15, 2020. Later in the day police say an armed Middleton showed up to Louard-Clarke's home on Shawnee Lane in Waldorf that he shared with his parents and shot two friends outside. He then shot Louard-Clarke in the leg as he fled the home.

Middleton followed Louard-Clarke outside the home and brutally shot him multiple times in the head as he pleaded for his life, according to authorities. Middleton fled but was later apprehended.

Richard Eugene Middleton, Jr., 

Officials say both of Louard-Clarke's parents witnessed the initial shooting, and his mother witnessed Louard-Clarke's body after he was killed. "No parent expects to bury their child. [In this case,] the last memory of your child is him being violently killed," said Assistant State's Attorney Jonathan Beattie at the sentencing.

"This is amongst the most violent and heinous crimes that I think most of us have come across," Beattie said. "Decisions have consequences. This was a considered, deliberate, and intentional decision to take someone's life; it is the State's estimation that [Middleton doesn't] deserve to live free amongst society for the rest of [his] life."