Maryland Man Who Called Himself a ‘Savage’ Sentenced to Life for Murder and Dismemberment of Beloved Elementary School Teacher
GREENBELT, MARYLAND — A Maryland man who brutally murdered and dismembered a beloved elementary school teacher during her evening walk has been sentenced to life in prison without parole, closing one of the state’s most shocking murder cases in recent memory.
34-year-old Harold Francis Landon III was convicted in June of first-degree murder for the July 2023 killing of 59-year-old Mariame Toure Sylla, a beloved second-grade teacher at Dora Kennedy French Immersion School.
On Friday, Judge Carol Coderre handed down the life sentence, saying the brutality of the crime and its impact on the community warranted the harshest punishment possible.
“He tried to dismember her body to sever any evidence of his crime,” said State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy. “Now, he is severed from our community.”
A Teacher Loved by All, Murdered Without Warning
Sylla, originally from the Ivory Coast, moved to the United States about a decade before her death. Known for her compassion and devotion to her students, she had recently purchased a home in her native country, hoping to return one day.
Her life was cut short on July 29, 2023, when she went for an evening walk at Schrom Hills Park near her home in Greenbelt and never came back.
Days later, her torso was discovered in a retention pond in Clinton — 20 miles from where she disappeared. None of her other remains were ever recovered.
“This woman was a good person,” Braveboy said during sentencing. “She cared deeply about her students and lived her life with faith and kindness.”
The Evidence That Led to Conviction
Investigators gathered extensive evidence linking Landon to the killing. Sylla’s DNA was found on his boots, while pieces of her dress and scarf were discovered in the bed of his pickup truck.
Cellphone records also showed that both Landon and Sylla’s phones were in the same area the night she vanished, and surveillance footage captured Landon’s truck near the pond where her remains were later found.
Perhaps most chilling was a recorded jailhouse call in which Landon appeared to confess:
“I literally let the savage inside of me out,” he told a friend.
Prosecutors Call It a ‘Calculated’ Killing
Authorities described the attack as random and “premeditated”, saying Landon and Sylla had never met before. Prosecutors believe he strangled her before dismembering her body and attempting to scatter the remains to destroy evidence.
“This was not a crime of rage or confusion,” Braveboy said. “It was calculated before, during, and after.”
Landon’s defense attorney argued that he suffered from a traumatic childhood and long-term substance abuse, claiming he was in a drug-induced haze and could not recall the killing. But jurors and the court rejected that explanation.
Community Devastation and Lasting Impact
The murder of Sylla devastated her community, prompting an outpouring of grief from her colleagues, students, and neighbors.
“She was more than a teacher — she was family to everyone she met,” one parent told local media. “To lose her this way was unthinkable.”
Landon, who remained silent during sentencing, will spend the rest of his life behind bars, marking the end of a case that left the Greenbelt community forever changed.
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