Baltimore man gets life without parole in murder of dentist

But slaying of Dr. Albert Woonho Ro remains an open investigation

A Baltimore man convicted of killing a dentist for money in Glen Burnie was sentenced Tuesday to two consecutive life terms in prison, one of them without parole, plus additional years.

Dante Jeter, 25, already serving 60 years in prison for an unrelated murder in the city, stood silently as Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Pamela L. North handed down the life sentences to be followed by 30 years. Jeter was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy and related counts in May in the Sept. 26, 2006 murder of Dr. Albert Woonho Ro, who was well known in the Korean-American community and was found beaten nearly beyond recognition in his office.

Jeter's cousin, Shontay Joyner Hickman, also of Baltimore, will have her life sentence cut to 40 years for her cooperation and for testifying against him, according to prosecutor Anne Colt Leitess. Hickman, an office worker for Ro, told police that she paid Jeter $1,000 to kill Ro because he learned she had been stealing from him.

The case remains open, Leitess said. Hickman told police two other people she did not know took part in the slaying. No one else has been charged.

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