A Waldorf, Maryland, man was sentenced Monday to 40 years in prison for murdering a woman in 2023 using a forklift.

Bryce Caleb Timothy Brown was found guilty late last year of the murder of Gloristine Pinkney.

During sentencing, Charles County Assistant State’s Attorney Jonathan Beattie asked the judge to give Brown 50 years behind bars, saying what happened was “a tragic loss of life in the most horrendous way possible.”

According to prosecutors, Brown stole a forklift from the Lowes where he worked in Waldorf on July 2, 2023. Brown then drove the forklift to the Home Depot nearby and rammed it into a parked car where Pinkney was sleeping.

Pinkney, who prosecutors said Brown did not know, got out of the car and tried to run away, but Brown followed her and ran her over with the forklift, killing her.

First responders found her pinned underneath the forklift.

After the murder, prosecutors said Brown drove off in Pinkney’s car and used her credit card to buy gas. Brown was convicted and sentenced on charges of second-degree murder, burglary and theft.

Before sentencing Brown to 40 years, Judge William Greer said, “This is a terrible situation; it affects your family and Ms. Pinkney’s family. Your family will get to see you and talk to you, but Ms. Pinkney’s family will not. It’s sad all the way around.”

“It’s clear there was a mental health issue, but it’s not clear that what happened was a result of that. I can’t overlook how horrendous that action was,” Greer added.

WTOP’s Thomas Robertson contributed to this report.