A man who shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and left her body in a sinking car in the Sacramento River with her children was convicted of murder this week, Sacramento County prosecutors announced.
Mandiko Kwadzo was found guilty by a jury Wednesday of using a firearm in the murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm and faces a sentence of 53 years to life at his sentencing Sept. 6, 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 reported seeing Kwadzo and Carliena Clayton, 23, arguing in the driveway of her home.
Clayton was seen getting into a car with her four children while Kwadzo got into the passenger seat as they pulled out of the driveway, police said. When officers arrived on scene, they found evidence of a shooting inside the home.
That night, a man at Cliff Marina in Sacramento heard a gunshot and a car crash into the river, authorities said. The man called his friend and the two went to the scene of the crash to help. They saw Clayton’s car in the water with Kwadzo standing nearby, doing nothing to help.
Clayton was unresponsive in the driver’s seat and her children were in the back seat. Her 6-year-old had unbuckled everyone’s seat belts, but the 2-year-old was still in a car seat. The two men rescued all the children from the car, authorities said.
Clayton had no pulse, according to responding CHP officers, and was bleeding profusely from the head. She was eventually pronounced dead at the scene. Initial responding officers initially believed the family had been in a car accident, but the oldest child told officers that Kwadzo had shot his mother and Kwadzo was arrested.
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 because of someone she slept with every night, so you never know what’s going on in someone’s head,” Aseanijanique White said.
California Daily Newspapers
