WASHINGTON — A D.C. man is facing nearly three decades in prison for murdering his girlfriend, whose body was never found, in 2020.
According to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, 57-year-old Darnell Sterling was found guilty of second-degree murder and a related charge of contempt in Oct. 2022.
Prosecutors say Sterling attacked his girlfriend, 34-year-old Olga Ooro, in her apartment in the 300 block of Massachusetts Avenue NW on July 17, 2020. He killed her during the attack, while her 7-year-old son was asleep in his bedroom.
Sterling cleaned up the crime and left, later returning and using Ooro's keys to grab her body and put it into his car. Ooro's body has never been found.
Police learned Ooro was missing after her 7-year-old son was found wandering the apartment building alone.
At the time of her murder, Sterling was under a court order to stay away from her. He was previously arrested for assaulting Ooro three months before she was killed.
Sterling was arrested for Ooro's murder less than a week after her death. He has been in custody ever since.
A judge sentenced Sterling to 27 years in prison and an additional five years of supervised release following his prison term.