Life Sentence for Engaged Couple's Murderer

A Jersey City man convicted in the fatal shooting of a couple killed on their way home from their engagement party has been sentenced to life in prison.

The Jersey Journal reports that 22-year-old Shiquan Bellamy must serve 127 years before he becomes eligible for parole under the sentence imposed Friday.
 
Bellamy was convicted last September on numerous counts - including murder, carjacking and robbery - stemming from the 2010 botched carjacking and execution-style murders of 27-year-old Michael Muchiaki and his 25-year-old girlfriend, Nia Haqq.  
 
Prosecutors said the victims were each shot twice in the head outside their Jersey City home in April 2010, shortly after they attended their engagement party.   
 
In handing down the sentence, state Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale said Bellamy epitomized the word "depravity." The judge said Bellamy killed Haqq and Muchioki to "satisfy a sick desire to see what it's like to shoot someone."
 
Shiquan Bellamy's lawyer, Roy Greenman, told the newspaper that he "probably" would appeal his client's conviction and the sentence he received.
 
Bellamy's cousin, Latonia Bellamy, was convicted of felony murder and numerous charges for her role in the shooting. She's now serving a sentence of life plus 30 years.
 
Another accomplice, Darmelia Lawrence, has pleaded guilty to robbery and testified against the two Bellamys. Lawrence won't be sentenced until she testifies against Shiquan Bellamy in the three other murder trials he faces.