Man Sentenced to 110 Years for Killing Mother, Stepbrother in Pr. George's

A 35-year old man was sentenced to 110 years in Prince George's County Circuit Court on Friday for killing his mother and stepbrother in August 2011, according to the Prince George's Office of the State's Attorney. 

Quindell Mercer, who had no fixed address, was sentenced for two counts of second-degree murder and other charges, according to prosecutors.

Mercer had no obvious motive for the killings, State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said in a news release.

“Mr. Mercer executed his mother and stepbrother in cold blood for no apparent reason and there is no excuse for this senseless act of violence that took the lives of two of our citizens,” Alsobrooks said in a news release.  “I am pleased that he will never be allowed to walk our streets again.”

Mercer went to the home of Patricia Harris and her son Frank Lamar Harris in Fort Washington on Aug. 3, 2011, and shot both of them, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said that Mercer posed their bodies on a sofa to make it look like they were sleeping, according to the State's Attorney's office. The two were discovered by Frank Arthur Harris, the husband and father of the victims.

Mercer was tied to the crime by an FBI handwriting expert and DNA evidence that convincingly linked him to the gun used, according to the state's attorney's office.