Military mom found gunned down with her baby in her arms

In this episode of Crime Watch Daily Updates: Karlyn Ramirez might have had top-secret clearance at the National Security Agency where she worked, but no matter how much information she knew, nothing could protect her from her own husband.

When she was 21 years old, Karlyn enlisted in the U.S. Army, and met Staff Sergeant Maliek Kearney. The two fell in love and she eventually became pregnant with a little girl. Her pregnancy was something of a miracle, though, because she had cervical cancer and was told she would most likely not be able to have children. She gave birth to her baby girl, and Karlyn and her daughter lived in Fort Meade, Maryland.

Maliek and Karlyn eventually wed, but he was stationed in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. The distance ultimately drove them apart.

On August 25, 2015, Karlyn was found dead in her home with multiple gunshot wounds. Her little girl was still in her arms.

Investigators honed in on Maliek and his girlfriend, Dolores Delgado, as their main suspects. Over a year after her shooting death, a federal grand jury indicted the two for interstate travel to commit domestic violence resulting in murder. They were arrested October 6, 2016, in San Antonio.

Prior to her death, Karlyn obtained a protective order against Maliek, which prohibited any contact between the two. Federal prosecutors argued Maliek traveled from South Carolina to Maryland on Aug. 24, 2015, to kill his wife. They said Maliek walked into Karlyn’s home with his gun, and he shot her multiple times. He even pulled down her pants to make it seem like she had been sexually assaulted.

Before he left, he put the little girl in her arms.

Maliek drove his girlfriend Dolores’ car up to Maryland while she stayed behind with his vehicle and cell phone. Dolores even provided him with gas cans, so he didn’t have to stop in stations along the way. She also got rid of his clothing and the gun he used by tossing the items in a waterway in Florida.

Dolores pleaded guilty to interstate travel to commit domestic violence resulting in death and testified against Maliek at his trial. She was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison, with five years of supervised release.

On August 8, 2018, a federal jury found Maliek guilty of the same charge as well as using, carrying, and possessing a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Let’s look back at the case of a young mother who defied odds and rose through the ranks, only to be gunned down in her own home.