Man Sentenced to Prison for Killing and Dismembering Daughter

Malik Samartaney, 68, was sentenced on Monday to 41 years in prison after killing and dismembering his daughter, 43-year-old Dominique Foster and placing her remains in a box, next to an apartment complex dumpster.

Samartaney (formerly known as Lawrence Banks), was convicted of second degree murder in October 2021. He was convicted on one count of second degree murder and one count of unauthorized disposal of a body.

Samartaney killed Foster in May 2019, allegedly after an argument about her drug use. Parts of her body were found in trash bags when someone called to report a suspicious package near a dumpster at the Clarks Lane Garden Apartments in Northwest Baltimore. Authorities have not been able to find Foster’s head, hands, and feet, despite their exhaustive search.

Police were not able to link him to the crime with DNA or a murder weapon, and prosecutors based their case on circumstantial evidence. Samartaney’s ex-fiancee testified that it was difficult to get ahold of him on the day of the murder.

At trial, the prosecution provided evidence which showed Samartaney sending videos to foster’s children of her using heroin. His lawyer, Deborah Levi, said her client maintains his innocence and pins the blame on street gang MS-13.

Assistant State Attorney Elizabeth Stock focused on Samartaney’s violent history. In 1975 when Foster was only 7 months old, Samartaney was convicted of throwing her through a glass door. He also has two prior murder charges. One where he plead guilty in the 1990s to killing a friend, and no contest to killing his teenage son, receiving simultaneous 20 year sentences and was released in 2002.

He told Circuit Judge Jennifer Schiffer that he had been involved in his son’s death, and promised to God that he would never kill again. Foster’s daughter asked for the longest sentence possible for her grandfather, and not out of revenge, but for the public’s safety.

Circuit Judge Jennifer Schiffer handed down a 40 year sentence for the second-degree murder conviction and one year for the second offense, both the maximum sentence for the crimes. These sentences are to be served concurrently-saying “This court must defend the public.”