A 22-year-old Annapolis man was sentenced to 10 years in prison yesterday for the 2006 killing of a Bowie man, who prosecutors said was targeted because of his Hispanic background.
Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge William C. Mulford II accepted an Alford plea from Tony Tahzay Brown and sentenced him to 30 years in prison, with 20 years suspended, for the fatal shooting of Jose David Martinez, 36.
His prison term will be followed by five years of supervised probation.
An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt but concedes that prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction. Brown was scheduled to go on trial this week on first-degree murder charges but accepted the plea deal yesterday afternoon.
Brown and another man, wearing masks and gloves, plotted to rob a Hispanic man as they waited in woods behind Parole Liquors in the 2100 block of Forest Drive in Annapolis on May 26, 2006, prosecutors said.
Four men, including Martinez, began walking through the woods and heard noises. One of the men raised a flashlight in the direction of Brown, who then fired his weapon at them about 12:30 a.m., prosecutors said. Brown then fled the scene.
"The defendant was having money problems and because of that, he went after an easy target in the Hispanic community," said Assistant State's Attorney Robin Rickard, who prosecuted the case.
Brown admitted his role in the killing to his girlfriend, who eventually called police, prosecutors said. Brown was arrested at his Old Solomons Road home on Aug. 5, 2006.
"He didn't mean to kill anyone," said Rickard, relaying what Brown had told his girlfriend. "He just got scared and shot at the light."
Daryl D. Jones, who represented Brown in court yesterday, requested that his client serve his sentence at the Patuxent Institution Youth Program.
Prosecutors opposed the request, citing Brown's criminal record, which includes two probation violations. The judge denied Jones' request.
Brown addressed the court, saying, "I'm sorry they lost a loved one." He added that he hoped they would find justice.
Martinez's parents, his two sisters and brother, who reside in North Carolina, attended yesterday's proceedings.
Milena Martinez said her brother had come to the United States in 1995, first living in North Carolina before joining another sister in Maryland. She said her brother worked construction jobs, mostly laying brick, to support his daughter, who is now 14, back in his native El Salvador.
"He was loved and will be missed for the rest of our lives," Milena Martinez told the court.
After the proceedings, she said that it was "sad" that an American citizen would target an immigrant for robbery.
nicole.fuller@baltsun.com