Girlfriend Of Slain Fort Meade Soldier's Husband Pleads Guilty In Death

FORT MEADE, MD — After the husband of a Fort Meade soldier and mother allegedly shot his wife in her Severn home, he pulled down her clothes to make the killing look like a sexual assault, then placed their 4-month-old daughter in her arms and fled the state to establish an alibi for the murder, federal authorities said Tuesday. The new details released about the slaying of Karlyn Serane Ramirez were included in court documents filed with the guilty plea of a Texas woman who was dating Ramirez's estranged husband.

Ramirez, 24, was found shot to death in her Severn home with her infant daughter, Kattaleya Vale Kearney, unharmed beside her on Aug. 25, 2015. Ramirez's husband, Maliek Kearney, a master sergeant in the Army, was stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, when his wife died, and he was reportedly on duty in South Carolina at the time his wife was killed, police originally said. But in October 2016, investigators testified that Kearney, with help from his then-girlfriend, Dolores Delgado, 32, of San Antonio, drove to Severn to kill Ramirez.

Kearney allegedly shot his wife three times late in the evening of Aug. 24, 2015, before driving 500 miles back to South Carolina to be at work the next morning in a move to provide an alibi he plotted ahead of time. On Tuesday prosecutors said Delgado admitted buying gasoline to let Kearney travel to Maryland without stopping at a gas station and gave him the murder weapon.

Delgado pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court for interstate travel to commit domestic violence resulting in death in connection with the death of Ramirez. Delgado faces a maximum sentence of life in prison when she is sentenced on Nov. 20; she remains in custody. The case against Kearney is still pending.

According to court documents, Ramirez and Kearney had recently separated, and Ramirez had obtained a protective order through the Army prohibiting all contact between the couple. Ramirez’s husband reportedly finished work early on the afternoon of Aug. 24, 2015, and drove to Severn. He used his key to enter Ramirez’s townhouse with a Taurus .357-caliber revolver.

Ramirez attempted to calm her husband, but she reiterated that she did not want to see him again, authorities say. Kearney shot Ramirez three times, killing her, then took off her pants and pulled down her underwear in an attempt to make the attack look like a sexual assault. The child was likely left on her dead mother's body for about eight hours, investigators say.

Delgado provided the firearm that killed Ramirez and allowed Kearney to drive her car from South Carolina to Maryland to commit the murder, authorities claim in court papers. Delgado also purchased large gas cans Kearney took with him on the drive to Maryland so that he would not have to stop for gas and risk being seen.

Prosecutors say Delgado, who lived in Florida at the time Ramirez was killed, stayed at Kearney’s South Carolina apartment with his phone and vehicle so it would appear that he was in that state at the time of the murder. After the slaying, the Taurus .357-caliber revolver used to shoot Ramirez and shell casings were tossed into a Florida waterway, along with clothing the couple wore during the murder and the key Kearney used to enter the townhouse.

The suspect also dismantled the revolver and took steps to obliterate the serial number. Once the weapon was recovered by law enforcement divers, forensic testing determined that it was the gun used by Kearney to shoot Ramirez, according to a news release.

Delgado and Kearney were indicted Oct. 4, 2016, by a Maryland grand jury for interstate travel to commit domestic violence resulting in death.

Local authorities have declined to discuss what led investigators to consider Kearney a suspect in his wife's death.

"I want to say how proud I am of the investigators on this case. Every one of them, from Anne Arundel to the federal government LIVED their obligation to be PFC Ramirez' and her family's final advocates," said Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare in a statement to Patch after the indictments last year. "I greatly appreciate the thousands of hours of hard work that went into solving this case."

Kearney, a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist, enlisted in 2000 and has spent time both in the Army and Pennsylvania National Guard, according to the Army Times. He has maintained he is innocent in his wife's death. If convicted in his upcoming trial, he faces a life prison sentence.

Anne Arundel County Police held a news conference in March 2016 to plead for tips in Ramirez's death.

“A young lady who was in the prime of her life, who was service driven, serving her country, had her life stolen from her in her own home,” said Altomare in the spring.

Officers found Ramirez’s body after maintenance workers reported the door to her home open in the 8000 block of Millstone Court, which seemed suspicious, and called police. Ramirez died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Police Sgt. John Poole said there was no sign of forced entry to Ramirez's home or indications of a robbery.

The victim’s daughter lives with her grandmother.

»Photo of Karlyn Ramirez, courtesy of Anne Arundel County Police