COVINGTON, La. -- A 24-year-old man was sentenced to 70 years in prison for stabbing a woman to death and torching her apartment in attempt to cover up the crime.
Devin Baham, of Slidell, was sentenced late Friday for the 2012 murder of Ashley King. Judge Allison Penzato sentenced Baham, a multiple offender, to 55 years at hard labor on the manslaughter conviction, 15 years for aggravated arson and 10 years for obstruction of justice. The arson and obstruction of justice sentences are to run concurrently, but they will begin after the manslaughter sentence ends.
Baham was convicted in May.
King was stabbed 13 times and her home set on fire in the early morning hours of Feb. 23, 2012. According to the 22nd Judical District, two other defendants had already pleaded guilty for their roles in the crime. Andrew Sumner, 22, of Slidell, who pled guilty March 9 to manslaughter, aggravated arson, and obstruction of justice, is set for sentencing on Aug. 29. Sumner's wife, Katelyn Lusich, 21, who pled guilty in November 2014 to obstruction of justice, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.
The murder of King stemmed from a plan to rob her of prescription pills and money by Baham and Sumner. When they got to the apartment, King who had sold pills to Sumner multiple times, grew suspicious and began asking questions soon after the men entered her apartment.
According to the district attorney, Baham then punched her, grabbed her from behind, and began stabbing her, and Sumner took pills and cash from the apartment, fleeing with Lusich, who at the time was 17 years old, pregnant, and waiting in the car. Sumner and Lusich stashed the pills and cash in a safe at the home of Sumner's mother, where they had been living.
"Sumner went back to pick up Baham from a park near King's apartment, and both of them returned to Sumner's house, where they siphoned gasoline from a boat in the yard. They backtracked to King's apartment about 4 a.m., and Baham set it on fire," said a statement from the district attorney.
Firefighters determined that an accelerant had been used at the fire, and phone records led police investigators to Sumner, who later implicated Baham.
