Man convicted of killing family seeks sentence modification

Nicholas Browning serving four life sentences

TOWSON, Md. —A man convicted of killing his family in 2008 is asking for his sentence to be modified.

A hearing is scheduled Friday morning in Baltimore County Circuit Court for Nicholas Browning, 21, who was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to four life sentences in January 2009. Two of the life sentences were ordered to run consecutive to each other. The other two life sentences are concurrent.

Browning, then 15, pleaded guilty to killing his father, John; his mother, Tamara; his 14-year-old brother, Gregory; and his 11-year-old brother, Benjamin. All were killed by gunshot wounds to the head in their home in Cockeysville in the early morning hours of Feb. 2, 2008.

Prosecutors said Nicholas Browning used his father's gun to kill his family. They said he shot his family, spent the night with friends and pretended to discover his family dead the next day.

Nicholas Browning's attorneys filed a motion for modification of sentence and a hearing is scheduled Friday at 9:30 a.m.