Topeka mom sentenced to life in prison after 4-year-old daughter is shot and killed

TOPEKA (KSNT) - A Shawnee County court sentenced a woman to life in prison following the death of a child in October last year.

Katie Garceran with the Shawnee County District Attorney's Office said in a press release that 24-year-old Mariann Belair was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole until having served 25 years for her murder conviction. She received six months imprisonment for aggravated endangering of a child.

Belair's jury trial began on May, 28, 2024 and lasted a total of four days. The jury took almost an hour-and-a-half to deliver their verdict. Belair was found guilty of first degree murder and aggravated endangering of a child.

The charges stem from a 911 call received by the Shawnee County Emergency Communications Center on Oct. 14, 2023 for a house in the 400 block of NE Grattan. Topeka police arriving at the scene found a four-year-old child, identified as Lawrencia Perez-Belair, suffering from a gunshot wound.

The child was later declared dead. This was the 30th homicide for the City of Topeka in 2023.

Garceran said police investigating the crime scene found Belair's children were in the living room of the home with their mother prior to the shooting. Belair initially told police she retrieved a Sig Sauer semi-automatic handgun from upstairs and moved it to the couch downstairs.

While Belair was taking a photo with her daughter, her son took out the gun and shot it. Belair then moved the gun from the couch to a center-dresser drawer in another room before police arrived. Officers later found the gun along with a bag of methamphetamine and paraphernalia in a drawer during a search.

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