He was also given 10 years for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Sentencing was handed down on Thursday to a Frederick man for 1st-degree murder. Larnell Lyles, 28, was given life without parole for fatally shooting an ice cream truck driver as children were waiting in line in the Lucas Village neighborhood in Frederick. In addition, Circuit Court Judge Bill Nicklas gave Lyles 10 years for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
“Obviously, that’s the most severe sanction in Maryland. We no longer have the death penalty, but we do still have life without parole,” says State’s Attorney Charlie Smith. “And that was what Larnell Lyles received today as a sentence for the 1st-degree murder of Brandon Brown.”
The victim in this homicide, Brandon Brown, 22, and another man were selling ice cream from a truck along Vermont Court on a Saturday afternoon in June, 2015, when Lyles approached. “And he approached the truck in broad daylight as three kids were coming up to the truck on their scooters. Larnell Lyles drew his weapon and shot Brandon Brown three times in the chest, in the back, as he stepped off the truck in the presence of the children,” says Smith. “They were so close at the time that Brandon Brown fell on top of one of their scooters.”
Brown was pronounced dead at the scene.
Frederick Police arrested Lyles a few hours later.
In a recorded interview with police, Lyles said he shot at Brown, but didn’t think he hit him. He also told investigators that he feared for his life, saying Brown and others were stalking and harassing his family members over a 20-dollar debt.
Smith says prosecutors sought life without parole because this case warranted it. “It was cold blooded in the middle of the day. There was a risk of death or serious physical injury to the three little children who were standing right by who ran away with their ears covered by their hands, crying and tears. I think all that weighed in to the big picture and that big picture was life without the possibility of parole in the Division of Correction,” he says.
“Of course, Mr. Lyles was not happy with it. You could hear him yelling as he was taken back into lockup and is being sent to the Division of Correction,” says Smith.