Sniper Muhammad buried in Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Friends and relatives of executed Washington, D.C., sniper John Allen Muhammad gathered in his hometown today for his funeral.

Muhammad was put to death last week in Virginia for killing Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station during an October 2002 shooting rampage. It left 10 people dead and terrorized Maryland, Virginia and Washington over a three-week period.

Several dozen people attended the Baton Rouge funeral, which was closed to the news media.

Family members declined to be interviewed about the service afterward.

Muhammad carried out the sniper shootings with the help of a then-17-year-old accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo.

Malvo was sentenced to life in prison without parole for one of the killings. The men also were suspected of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama and Arizona.

In Baton Rouge, the two were accused in the death of Hong Im Ballenger, killed during a September 2002 robbery at the beauty products shop she managed. The case never was brought to trial.