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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/cri...local-headlines :african:
Columbia man gets life term for murder
Sands, 22, had a history of convictions before he shot student, 23, in 2002
By Lisa Goldberg
Sun Staff
Originally published June 19, 2004
A 22-year-old Columbia man with a long history of criminal convictions was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without pa
ole, plus 20 years, for the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old computer student.
Tavon Donya Sands' decade-long involvement with both juvenile and adult court, which included convictions f
or cri
mes ranging from handgun use to theft to robbery, underscored his "egregious" conduct Jan. 25, 2002 - the night DeShawn Anthony Wallace was shot in the head during a botched robbery, Howard Circuit Judge Raymond J. Kane Jr
. said before imposing the sentence.
"It just seems to me, his background, his involvement in the case cries out for significant incarceration," he said.
Sands was convicted in March of first-degree murder, armed robbery and related counts in the case, which Wallace's family members said stripped their lives of a responsible son who was a caring role model for his brothers and sisters, and left them with an empty sadness.
"I feel like the whole world is crashing down on me and there is nothing I can do to stop it," Wallace's mot
her, Celestina Wallace, told Kane yesterday through tears. "Our once-beautiful days are now ugly and gruesome. ... This world is a harder, darker and colder place without him."
<
br>DeShawn
Wallace, his younger brother and three friends were outside in the 5800 block of Stevens Forest Road when three men approached them and ordered them to the ground at gunpoint. Wallace was shot in the head when he tried to walk away, and a witness testified that Sands admitte
d that he was the gunman.
Sands was on probation for assault at the time of the killing and had recently been released on bond in an armed-robbery case. He is serving a 39-year sentence for a series of convictions stemming from offenses committed in the months before the killing, including one in the robbery case.
"For the past decade, he has wreaked havoc through the streets of Columbia," said prosecutor Kim Oldham, who asked Kane to sentence Sands to life without parole - plus 140 years. " ... To say he'
s a menace to society is to put it mildly."
But defense attorney Joseph Murtha said Sands was "sort of thrown away" by parents battling drug problems, suffered a
buse from adul
ts and had no one to give him "direction or purpose" as a child.
Murtha said he believes that Sands, who has become a Muslim and wore a white skullcap yesterday, is "benefiting from direction for the first time in his life." He asked Kane to give his client a chance to "grow up" and hope that he could be relea
sed.
After the hearing, Murtha said he expects his client will appeal.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/cri...local-headlines :african:
Columbia man gets life term for murder
Sands, 22, had a history of convictions before he shot student, 23, in 2002
By Lisa Goldberg
Sun Staff
Originally published June 19, 2004
A 22-year-old Columbia man with a long history of criminal convictions was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without pa
ole, plus 20 years, for the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old computer student.
Tavon Donya Sands' decade-long involvement with both juvenile and adult court, which included convictions f
or cri
mes ranging from handgun use to theft to robbery, underscored his "egregious" conduct Jan. 25, 2002 - the night DeShawn Anthony Wallace was shot in the head during a botched robbery, Howard Circuit Judge Raymond J. Kane Jr
. said before imposing the sentence.
"It just seems to me, his background, his involvement in the case cries out for significant incarceration," he said.
Sands was convicted in March of first-degree murder, armed robbery and related counts in the case, which Wallace's family members said stripped their lives of a responsible son who was a caring role model for his brothers and sisters, and left them with an empty sadness.
"I feel like the whole world is crashing down on me and there is nothing I can do to stop it," Wallace's mot
her, Celestina Wallace, told Kane yesterday through tears. "Our once-beautiful days are now ugly and gruesome. ... This world is a harder, darker and colder place without him."
<
br>DeShawn
Wallace, his younger brother and three friends were outside in the 5800 block of Stevens Forest Road when three men approached them and ordered them to the ground at gunpoint. Wallace was shot in the head when he tried to walk away, and a witness testified that Sands admitte
d that he was the gunman.
Sands was on probation for assault at the time of the killing and had recently been released on bond in an armed-robbery case. He is serving a 39-year sentence for a series of convictions stemming from offenses committed in the months before the killing, including one in the robbery case.
"For the past decade, he has wreaked havoc through the streets of Columbia," said prosecutor Kim Oldham, who asked Kane to sentence Sands to life without parole - plus 140 years. " ... To say he'
s a menace to society is to put it mildly."
But defense attorney Joseph Murtha said Sands was "sort of thrown away" by parents battling drug problems, suffered a
buse from adul
ts and had no one to give him "direction or purpose" as a child.
Murtha said he believes that Sands, who has become a Muslim and wore a white skullcap yesterday, is "benefiting from direction for the first time in his life." He asked Kane to give his client a chance to "grow up" and hope that he could be relea
sed.
After the hearing, Murtha said he expects his client will appeal.