A judge sentenced Sakina Muhammad to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering Kwan Winston. (Mug shot: Kent County Jail)
The Michigan woman who shot and killed her ex-boyfriend as he begged for his life before running off with their infant daughter is set to spend the rest of her days in prison, as a judge sentenced her to life without the possibility of parole, according to NBC Grand Rapids affiliate WOOD.
The defense for Sakina Muhammad, 23, said she plans to appeal, reports Grand Rapids ABC affiliate WZZM.
Officers said that she shot and killed Kwan Winston, 27, at an apartment in the Grand Rapids-area city of Wyoming in March 2022, and she then took off with the 11-month-old girl. Investigators found them the next day and arrested Muhammad.
“You deserve what you deserve. Karma has no expiration date. Nor does Karma discriminate,” Winston’s mother reportedly said Wednesday. “674 days we’ve been living a with a hole in our hearts.”
“I just want to say sorry to my daughter,” Muhammad said when it came her time to speak.
She argued self-defense, though neighbors’ testimony at trial reportedly described her as usually being the aggressor in the toxic relationship with Winston.
Winston reportedly pleaded no contest to attempting to strangle Muhammad in separate incidents in March 2020 and again in January 2022. Police said they had been living at the same apartment despite a court order intended to protect Muhammad, WOOD reported in 2022. Muhammad took the stand at trial, denying that she planned the shooting, denying that she set out to make it happen, and denying wanting it to happen.
But other testimony said that witnesses heard Winston begging for his life, according to MLive.
“No, bro, you’re dead,” Muhammad said in the state’s case.
Jurors convicted her in November 2023 for first-degree murder and felony firearm.
