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Repeat felon convicted of breaking into North Highlands home, killing 77-year-old woman
A jury convicted a man of killing a 77-year-old woman during a burglary in North Highlands in 2022, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Darnell Erby was convicted of first-degree murder with the special circumstance that the murder was committed during a burglary.
Prosecutors said Erby acquainted himself with 77-year-old Pamela May, who lived alone in her North Highlands home.
In the early morning on June 15, 2022, Erby crawled through a gap in her back fence and entered her home without permission, prosecutors said.
Erby found May inside and used her clothes to bind her face and hands before he killed her, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Erby then stole property from May's home and tried to steal her home by transferring the home into his name.
Over the following days, Erby returned to the house and began to dismember the victim's body, prosecutors said. Before he could fully dispose of the victim's remains, police were alerted to the murder and located May's body.
Erby had a criminal history before May's death. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said he was admitted multiple times between 1999 and 2017 for several crimes, including burglary and possession of a controlled substance.
The CDCR told CBS13 that Erby was paroled under Prop. 57 parole review process, but the CDCR never told the Placer County District Attorney, as they were required to do by the law.
In his latest conviction, Erby faced a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 15.
