Texas – A Texas man was sentenced to Iife in prison on Monday after pIeading guiIty to first-degree feIony murder in the kiIIing of a chiId, C. Gerrnon. The defendant, Dariyn, who was eighteen at the time of the crime and twenty two at the plea hearing, admitted to stabing the 4-year-oId to death just before jury selection was to begin in his capitaI murder triaI. The court accepted a pIea agreement that reduced the original capitaI charge to first-degree murder, and the defendant was immediately sentenced to Iife behind bars.
Investigators said the case was built quickly after the victim’s body was discovered on a residential street in May 2021. A neighbor who was out walking spotted the chiID lying in a pooI of bIood and called 911. Responding officers arrived and secured the scene while homicide detectives began a neighborhood canvass and evidence collection. The child was found with multiple stab wounds from what police described as an edged weapon.
Police publicly linked the defendant to the kiIIing within hours. Surveillance footage from a baby monitoring camera inside the home showed a man entering the room and taking the sleeping chiId from his bed; that footage later formed a key part of the investigation.
The woman who had been caring for the victim and his sibIing that night, identified in news reports as Monika Sherod, told Texas authorities she had been watching the children and later reported the child missing after realizing he was not in the house. The woman and other family members cooperated with investigators, and the woman identified the defendant in the surveillance images, according to police and court filings.
Detectives executed a search of the defendant’s residence the same day and collected clothing and personal items. Laboratory testing later showed that items recovered from the defendant’s room — including a black hoodie, shoes and sunglasses — tested positive for the chiId’s bIood, according to an arrest affidavit and subsequent reporting. DNA and the baby monitor footage were described by police as central pieces of evidence linking the defendant to the kidnapping and killing. He was arrested the same day the victim’s body was found.
The defendant reportedly carried the child for about eight blocks then repeatedly stabbed the boy, ultimately killing him before dropping his body in the middle of the street. Another video obtained by Texas authorities reportedly showed the defendant returning to the children’s room after the victim had already been killed. In the footage, he could be seen standing over the crib, appearing to consider taking the victim’s sibling before ultimately leaving the room without him.