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Bakari Abiona Moncrief (Plano Police Department).
A Texas court has sentenced a man for murdering a cancer researcher who had been out jogging.
As Law&Crime previously reported, police in the city of Plano said that Bakari Abiona Moncrief, 33, tried to break into a local home before fatally attacking Sarmistha Sen, 43, on a nearby trail the morning of Aug. 1, 2020.
“I ain’t a coward,” he told an officer.
Police had noted blood on his shirt and DNA on his body.
He pleaded guilty on Dec. 2, 2024, and was sentenced to life in prison on Dec. 16, 2024, but officers announced the case’s end on Monday. Prison records show is he becomes eligible for parole in 2050.
Sen’s husband organized a GoFundMe campaign and ultimately raised $51,515 in her memory.
“We are creating this GoFundMe page in memory of Sarmistha Sen,” the campaign stated. “The fund will be used for charities that are devoted to issues that Sarmistha deeply cared about such as Cancer Awareness, Cancer research, healthy living and protection of environment.”
There are large memorials at Chisholm Trail Park off Legacy Dr in Plano for Sarmistha Sen, a 43-year-old mother and UT Southwestern researcher who was killed while out jogging. Police say the attack was random. A man arrested for a burglary nearby is a person of interest. (@wfaa) pic.twitter.com/0eJcgTUqx5
— William Joy (@WilliamJoy) August 2, 2020
Police said Monday that the Collin County District Attorney’s Office faced many challenges to close the case.
“Their efforts were supported by the unified teamwork of personnel from various units within the Plano Police Department,” the statement said, and listed half a dozen agencies, adding that they all “played vital roles in achieving this outcome.”
