A man who shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and left her body in a sinking car in the Sacramento River with their children was found guilty of murder this week, Sacramento County prosecutors announced.
Mandiko Kwadzo was found guilty by a jury Wednesday of using a firearm in the killing and being a felon in possession of a firearm and faces 53 years to life in prison at his Sept. 6 sentencing, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office said in a news release.
On July 27, 2020, West Sacramento Police officers responded to a report of shots fired; a witness said they saw Kwadzo and 23-year-old Carliena Clayton arguing in the driveway of their home.
Police said Clayton was seen getting into a car with her four children while Kwadzo sat in the passenger seat as they backed out of the driveway. When officers arrived at the scene, they found evidence of a shooting inside the home.
That night, a man at Cliff's Marina in Sacramento heard a gunshot and a car crash into the river, authorities said. The man called his friend and they both went to the crash site to help and saw Clayton's car in the water with Kwadzo standing nearby, doing nothing to help.
Clayton was unconscious in the driver's seat and his children were in the back seat. His 6-year-old son had unbuckled everyone's seat belts, but the 2-year-old was still in a child seat. The two men rescued all of the children from the car, authorities said.
Clayton had no pulse, according to CHP officers who responded to the scene, and was severely bleeding in her head. She was eventually pronounced dead at the scene. The first officers to respond to the scene initially believed the family had been in a car accident, but the eldest son told officers that Kwadzo had shot his mother, and Kwadzo was taken into custody.
Clayton had two gunshot wounds to the head and the gun was never found.
Clayton's friend told CBS News that at the time of her death, Clayton had just purchased a home in the Sacramento area for herself and her children.
“Carliena lost her life at the hands of someone she slept with every night, so you never know what goes through someone’s head,” Aseanijanique White said.
