Two blacks charged in drug-related killings

Two African-Americans have been charged in the drug-related killings of two young children and two adult relatives outside Washington D.C. Darrell Lynn Bellard, 43, of Dickinson, Texas, and Tkeisha Nicole Gilmer, 18, of Texas City, Texas have been taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder, police in Prince George's County, Maryland, said. More charges are being considered. The incident took place at a debris-filled living space in Lanham, Maryland, a crime scene that Police Chief Roberto Hylton described as "horrific." The victims have been identified as Shayla Shante, 3, and Shakur Sylvester Sikyala, 4, both slain along with their mother, Dawn Yvette Brooks, 38, and their aunt, Mwasiti Sikyala, 41. Police said some of the victims may have been Congolese. Hylton said that the suspects and the victims were part of a "drug sales relationship and something went wrong." Police said they were selling marijuana. "They were executed. They were shot multiple times" and the manner in which the children were slain was "very disturbing," Hylton said. Hylton specified that Ballard was assisted by Gilmer.