Man sentenced to 43 years for role in Columbia robbery, killing
Wimbish had been acquitted of murder in 2008 shooting death
By Mike Santa Rita
msantarita@patuxent.com
Posted 9/11/09
An Owings Mills man was sentenced in Howard County Circuit Court to 43 years in prison Friday for his role in an attempted robbery in Columbia last year that ended with the victim being shot to death.
Daymar Wimbish, 19, was convicted in May of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and attempted armed robbery, as well as three firearms charges. He was acquitted of the more serious charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the same case.
Wimbish’s conviction resulted from a police investigation of the death of Jason Pridgen Batts, who was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Stevens Forest Apartments, on Stevens Forest Road in the Columbia village of Oakland Mills in May 2008.
Prosecutors had claimed that Batts was mistakenly shot and that Elijah Jackson, of Columbia, was the intended victim.
Jackson was targeted because he informed on Ronald McConnell, a Bloods gang member, in another case, prosecutors said. Wimbish participated in the attempted robbery, prosecutors claimed.
Addressing Batts’ family Friday in Howard County Circuit Court, Wimbish expressed remorse for his crime and told Judge Lenore Gelfman he had attempted to kill himself in prison. He said he had joined a gang while in prison in Baltimore for a previous offense, in order to stay alive.
“I’m locked up with a bunch of men bigger than me. I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to survive,” he said.
Turning and addressing Batts’ family he apologized for his role in the crime. “I’m truly, I’m sincerely sorry. I can’t bring him back,” he said. “I’ve been lost a long time.”
In issuing his sentence, Gelfman did not comment on the nature of the offense. But she told attorneys that she could only sentence Wimbish on the crimes for which he had been convicted. She said Wimbish must serve 50 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
Prosecutors had asked for the maximum sentences of 20 years each in the conspiracy to commit armed robbery and attempted armed robbery convictions. They included in their justification for the recommendation numerous infractions by Wimbish while being held since his arrest. Those infractions became so severe that he was temporarily moved from the Howard County Detention Center to a maximum security prison for several days, Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McGuinn told Gelfman.
“There is nothing that shows that this defendant shows any promise that he can be rehabilitated,” McGuinn told Gelfman.
She pointed out that Wimbish also faces a nine-year prison sentence for manslaughter for a fire he and two other youths set in a northwest Baltimore house when Wimbish was 16. The fire killed a man on the second floor of the house.
Charged with first-degree murder in the 2006 fire, Wimbish pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and Baltimore City Circuit Judge John Glynn initially agreed to release him from jail after Wimbish served eight months of a 10-year sentence. But after the conviction in Columbia, Glynn sentenced Wimbish to nine years and four months in prison, the remainder of his 10-year prison term for the Baltimore killing.
In handing down her sentence Friday, Gelfman sentenced Wimbish to 14 years on each of the two robbery convictions (not the 20 years prosecutors had recommended). She also sentenced him to five years on each of the three weapons charges.
Prosecutors declined to comment on Gelfman’s sentence.
Spencer Hecht, Wimbish’s attorney, said that while he had hoped for a lesser sentence, he was not surprised by the judge’s decision.
“I thought the sentence was consistent with our expectations,” he said.
The sentencing of Wimbish closes the second of three phases in the criminal prosecution involved in the shooting death of Batts.
The man prosecutors said masterminded the attempted robbery, McConnell, 22, of no fixed address, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and possession of an unregistered firearm in April and later sentenced to 30 years in prison.
A third man Lamont Johnson, 25, of Owings Mills, who prosecutors claim was the trigger man, is scheduled to be tried Sept. 21 on charges that include first-degree murder.
Daymar Wimbish, 19, was convicted in May of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and attempted armed robbery, as well as three firearms charges. He was acquitted of the more serious charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the same case.
Wimbish’s conviction resulted from a police investigation of the death of Jason Pridgen Batts, who was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Stevens Forest Apartments, on Stevens Forest Road in the Columbia village of Oakland Mills in May 2008.
Prosecutors had claimed that Batts was mistakenly shot and that Elijah Jackson, of Columbia, was the intended victim.
Jackson was targeted because he informed on Ronald McConnell, a Bloods gang member, in another case, prosecutors said. Wimbish participated in the attempted robbery, prosecutors claimed.
Addressing Batts’ family Friday in Howard County Circuit Court, Wimbish expressed remorse for his crime and told Judge Lenore Gelfman he had attempted to kill himself in prison. He said he had joined a gang while in prison in Baltimore for a previous offense, in order to stay alive.
“I’m locked up with a bunch of men bigger than me. I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to survive,” he said.
Turning and addressing Batts’ family he apologized for his role in the crime. “I’m truly, I’m sincerely sorry. I can’t bring him back,” he said. “I’ve been lost a long time.”
In issuing his sentence, Gelfman did not comment on the nature of the offense. But she told attorneys that she could only sentence Wimbish on the crimes for which he had been convicted. She said Wimbish must serve 50 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
Prosecutors had asked for the maximum sentences of 20 years each in the conspiracy to commit armed robbery and attempted armed robbery convictions. They included in their justification for the recommendation numerous infractions by Wimbish while being held since his arrest. Those infractions became so severe that he was temporarily moved from the Howard County Detention Center to a maximum security prison for several days, Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McGuinn told Gelfman.
“There is nothing that shows that this defendant shows any promise that he can be rehabilitated,” McGuinn told Gelfman.
She pointed out that Wimbish also faces a nine-year prison sentence for manslaughter for a fire he and two other youths set in a northwest Baltimore house when Wimbish was 16. The fire killed a man on the second floor of the house.
Charged with first-degree murder in the 2006 fire, Wimbish pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and Baltimore City Circuit Judge John Glynn initially agreed to release him from jail after Wimbish served eight months of a 10-year sentence. But after the conviction in Columbia, Glynn sentenced Wimbish to nine years and four months in prison, the remainder of his 10-year prison term for the Baltimore killing.
In handing down her sentence Friday, Gelfman sentenced Wimbish to 14 years on each of the two robbery convictions (not the 20 years prosecutors had recommended). She also sentenced him to five years on each of the three weapons charges.
Prosecutors declined to comment on Gelfman’s sentence.
Spencer Hecht, Wimbish’s attorney, said that while he had hoped for a lesser sentence, he was not surprised by the judge’s decision.
“I thought the sentence was consistent with our expectations,” he said.
The sentencing of Wimbish closes the second of three phases in the criminal prosecution involved in the shooting death of Batts.
The man prosecutors said masterminded the attempted robbery, McConnell, 22, of no fixed address, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and possession of an unregistered firearm in April and later sentenced to 30 years in prison.
A third man Lamont Johnson, 25, of Owings Mills, who prosecutors claim was the trigger man, is scheduled to be tried Sept. 21 on charges that include first-degree murder.
user comments (3)
user givemeabreak says...
This thug was already let out early from a prior stay in prison, and now a person is dead because of him and his friends. I hope that the parole board makes him serve his entire sentence, predators like this don't deserve to see the light of day.
Posted 1:09 PM, 09.15.09 | Permalink
user please says...
Bless You, Ho Co Po. The murder rate out here is low, low, low and you always get your man. Hugs.
Posted 6:54 PM, 09.20.09 | Permalink
user whatever says...
yes,user please,it is surprising the murder rate is so low when we are so close to Baltimore.Almost a murder everyday there.
Posted 9:04 AM, 09.25.09 | Permalink
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