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Baltimore man sentenced to life for killing Jamal Barney, former Loyola basketball player
A Baltimore man was sentenced to life on Friday for brutally murdering former Loyola Basketball player Jamal Barney in October 2023.
Dayrel McFarland will be serving a life sentence plus three years for First-Degree Murder and Deadly Weapon with Intent to Injure, according to the Office of the State's Attorney for Baltimore City.
Jamal Barney, a standout Loyola basketball player
Jamal Barney was a Baltimore native who attended Southwestern High School and went to Providence before transferring to Loyola University.
It was at Loyola, from 2008 to 2011, that he became the Greyhounds' leading scorer in the two seasons he played, scoring 1,000 career points with two 40-point games.
"Barney was from Southwestern High School and was one of the best scorers in the country," former Loyola basketball coach Jimmy Patsos said.
Missing investigation
Police say Barney, who was 37 years old at the time, was missing on October 1. However, family members reported that they hadn't seen or heard from him for nine days, had already filed a missing persons report, and had circulated flyers online.
The family later received an anonymous message claiming that McFarland, also known as "Little D," had bashed Barney in the head with a cinder block and hid his body in a vacant home.
A day later, on October 2, police responded to the 500 block of North Payson Street for reports of a suspicious death.
When they entered the home, officers immediately detected a strong foul odor, according to the press release.
In a second-floor bedroom, they found the body of Barney, stuffed inside a mattress covered with blankets and clothing.
The body was reportedly mummified and so decomposed that the gender and race of the victim couldn't be determined, nor could a trace of blood or trauma be found. Officials believe the decomposition was accelerated by the body being stuffed inside the mattress.
Investigators later observed a large hole in the right side of the bedroom wall leading to two adjoining rooms where they found blood evidence and splatter on the walls. A small section of carpet was also stained with blood, along with cinder blocks and a concrete paver.
Tattoos helped identify unrecognizable body
The body was later identified through Barney's tattoos by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, who ruled the victim's death a homicide by blunt force trauma to the head.
McFarland, who was arrested on an outstanding warrant and questioned, initially denied murdering Barney, but admitted to having a roommate.
Investigators then found a witness who told police that the defendant admitted to killing Jamal Barney by striking him in the head with the cinder block and hiding his body in a mattress on the second floor of the vacant.
DNA testing of a cinderblock stained with blood linked McFarland to the scene of the crime.
