The Richmond Heights Police Department reported that on March 4, 2025, around 5:30 p.m., officers responded to the 400 block of Richmond Park East Drive. Mariah Symone Sanders, 25, was found dead in the rear of the building, near a parking lot.
“I told her to get away from him because he would eventually kill her,” her mother, Sherry Brown, told WKYC. “I spoke with her several days ago. She asked, ‘Could she come back home?’ I replied, ‘Anytime.’
Her lease was about to be up. She said she was going to leave him alone, but I told her that was her way out. Once that lease expired, leave him alone, return home, and never look back.”
Mariah’s 7-month-old baby daughter, Serenity, was discovered unharmed in a stroller beside her.
Sherry heard the shots being fired.
“I could hear him in the background hollering, and I guess he was trying to grab her and she kept saying, ‘Don’t grab me, get off of me,'” Sherry informed WKYC. “I kept asking, ‘Where are you?'” Where are you at? She said she was outside… She had the baby, but he grabbed her again, prompting her to say, ‘Don’t grab me again.’ I heard the gunshots, and everything went silent.”
Authorities said they were looking for Shamar Summeral, 23, after witnesses reported seeing him flee the scene.
On March 5, 2025, the body of Shamar was located in Mayfield Heights South Park. The Richmond Police Department announced that Shamar died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Sherry will raise her granddaughter, Serenity.
