A Baltimore County jury convicted a man of murdering his stepdaughter, setting a fire to cover up the crime, and nearly killing his infant daughter, whom he left in the burning home.
Carl Evans, 36, of Baltimore, was accused of stabbing 13-year-old Breaunna Floyd 24 times and suffocating her July 25, 2005, as her infant sister lay in a crib in the next room, according to court testimony.
Evans told police he was home at about noon, and he and Breaunna fixed a gazebo in the yard.
At about 1 p.m., neighbors spotted smoke and watched Evans walk toward the burning home carrying a laptop computer bag and a backpack, according to the prosecution.
He set them on the lawn, prosecutor Lisa Dever said, and went in the burning house for a minute before coming back out and announcing, “My kids are dead.”
“There must have been some sort of argument” that sparked the attack, Dever said. Cuts and slices on Breaunna?s hands indicate she fought her assailant, she said.
Police found a pair of bloody knives wrapped up in a towel and a gray shirt that Evans had worn earlier that day tucked inside the bags, according to court testimony.
Investigators ran tests on the blood and discovered it matched Breaunna?s, Dever said.
After a weeklong trial, Evans was convicted on the charges of first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and arson Friday in Baltimore County Circuit.
Assistant Public Defender Gary Schenker could not be reached for comment.
Kathleen Cox was the judge in this case.
