For six months, Anna Sowers had the sneaking suspicion that it would come to this.
In June, her husband, Zachary Sowers, was punched in the head and stomped as he lay on the ground. His watch, wallet, money, cell phone and credit cards were stolen. Zachary Sowers has been in a coma ever since.
On Monday, Trayvon Ramos, 16, pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and robbery charges, essentially admitting that he was the one who gave Zachary Sowers a near-fatal beating. Circuit Judge John C. Themelis sentenced Ramos to life in prison with all but 40 years suspended.
Eric Price, 17, stood by as Ramos beat Zachary Sowers into unconsciousness. Arthur Jeter, 18, and Wilburt Martin, 19, were hunkered down in a nearby car. Price and Jeter were juveniles at the time of the beating, but they were charged as adults. Ramos is a juvenile, but he also was tried as an adult, separately from the other defendants.
On Friday, Price, Jeter and Martin abandoned the "stop snitching" code and agreed to testify against Ramos in exchange for eight-year prison terms. Under the plea agreements, none of the defendants will face additional charges if Zach Sowers dies. Ramos could have faced a felony murder charge, and if convicted, he could have been hit with life without the possibility of parole.
"I was told that they will not be retried if Zach passes away," Anna Sowers said yesterday.
Margaret Burns, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore state's attorney's office, confirmed that yesterday. But she added that the 40 years Ramos received is above, not below, the guidelines of the Maryland Sentencing Commission.
"Given [Ramos'] prior record, the guidelines for attempted first-degree murder called for 15 to 30 years," Burns said.
Still, Anna Sowers wanted Ramos and the other three to go to trial, so that Baltimoreans could hear all the evidence, so that the entire city would know what they had done to her husband. But on two previous occasions, Anna Sowers told me she knew what she faced, that a Baltimore jury might not convict any of the defendants.
Even Themelis hinted at it in his remarks from the bench. A news release sent out by the state's attorney's office said, "Judge Themelis noted that there is a difference between a judge's and jury's interpretation of willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted first degree murder."
