Bowie Bartender Sentenced To 3 Life Sentences: Report

BOWIE, MD -- The killer of the manager and owners of a Bowie bar will spend the rest of his life behind bars after he received three consecutive life sentences, according to a report.

WTOP reports that 32-year-old Karlief Moye, who pleaded guilty in September to the killings, was sentenced after a long hearing on Monday that involved family and friends of Moye talking highly of him, while family of the victims tearfully testified for a stricter sentence.

In January 2017, Moye shot to death Jin Chen, Sherwood Morgan, and Xue Xin -- the manager and owners of the Blue Sunday Bar & Grill where he used to work as a bartender.

Prosecutors say that the murders were premeditated and motivated by Moye's belief that they owed him money. The defense argued that Moye had a traumatic brain injury in 2014 that may have impacted his mental condition.

Moye tried to commit suicide in a park after the shooting, but survived.

Prince George's County Police were called to the scene of the shooting in the 6800 block of Race Track Road in Bowie about 2:15 a.m. on Jan. 30, 2017. When they arrived, officers found three victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Two were pronounced dead at the scene and a third later died from his injuries, according to a report from the Prince George's County Police Department.

The victims were later identified as Sherwood Morgan, 46, of Lake Arbor Way in Mitchellville, Jin Chen, 27, of Dove Circle in Laurel, and Xue Zou, 28, of Doves Fly Way in Laurel.

Moye reportedly worked at the restaurant as a bartender, reported WJLA, and may have posted about a disagreement on Facebook a week before the shootings. He wrote " 'Say word?' All the free advise I gave you and you want to hit me with a fee for consultation. This is what the world is coming too?"

Neighbors told the TV station Moye is friendly, and lives with a relative and her teenage daughter. He was known for fixing up cars and shoveling the sidewalk in front of an elderly couple's home, a neighbor said.

Restaurant employees have said that Morgan was a manager at the restaurant, which had just opened.

Police identified Moye as the suspect, and as they were searching the area around his home in Silver Spring, "they observed him running into a wooded area of the Northwest Branch Park," the police report says. Authorities say he shot himself twice.

Additional reporting by Payton Potter/Patch

Image via PGPD