A California man has been sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder and dismemberment of a woman within her own residence.

Darnell Erby, aged 47, received a life sentence without the possibility of parole for charges including first-degree murder, mutilation, and five counts of burglary, as announced by the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office on Monday. A jury found him guilty of these crimes in June.

Investigators revealed that Erby had established contact with the victim, 77-year-old Pamela May, who resided alone in North Highlands, northeast Sacramento. On July 15, 2022, Erby infiltrated her home by crawling through a gap in her backyard fence.

The victim was inside, and Erby “used her clothing to bind her face and hands,” the district attorney’s office said. According to Sacramento-based NBC affiliate KCRA, Erby burglarized May’s home on July 18 before killing her on July 19, suggesting he kept her alive for days as he attempted to steal from her.

In addition to stealing from May, Erby allegedly tried to claim ownership of her house by transferring the property to his name, according to officials. Following the murder, Erby returned to the scene to dismember May’s body, placing the remains in garbage bags. The victim’s body was reportedly “dismembered beyond recognition.”

Erby’s plans were ultimately thwarted. Before he could completely dispose of the victim’s remains in the garbage bags, authorities were alerted and discovered May’s body at the scene.

Erby was arrested and charged, with special circumstances added to his case given that the murder occurred during a robbery and that he committed burglary while armed with a deadly weapon. And there was another aspect to the case that frustrated authorities: Erby was on early release from prison when he committed the grisly murder.

According to the district attorney’s office in Placer County, which lies just north of Sacramento County, Erby was convicted for burglary and sentenced in August 2017 to serve over 12 years in prison. However, due to the state’s nonviolent offender early parole program, he was released from prison in 202

“Our community wants to know why this man was released after serving less than half of his prison sentence,” Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire said following May’s murder. “Our office, along with the Amador County District Attorney’s Office, twice opposed the release of this dangerous inmate.”