Inmates get 2 life terms in stabbing of 2 guards
Two men already in prison for murder were sentenced yesterday to two life sentences each for the 2006 stabbing of a pair of correctional officers at the now-closed Maryland House of Correction in Jessup.
Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Philip T. Caroom sentenced Brian Troxler, 25, and Donta Walker, 24, to the maximum sentences allowed under the law - two life sentences to run consecutive to the lengthy prison sentences they are serving. Both were convicted in December of first-degree attempted murder.
Troxler and Walker repeatedly stabbed two correctional officers - Sgt. Damean Stewart and Officer Dontae Malone - with 8-inch shanks March 29, 2006, in the prison, said Assistant State's Attorney Michael Dunty, who prosecuted the case and urged the judge to sentence Troxler and Walker to the maximums.
Troxler is serving an 80-year sentence, and Walker is serving a life sentence with all but 50 years suspended, prosecutors said. Both were convicted of murder charges in Baltimore.
"We don't tolerate violence within the prison," Dunty told the court. "There needs to be a message sent to them."
The stabbing of the two correctional officers occurred about four months before the July 25, 2006, fatal attack on Officer David McGuinn at the House of Correction, which prompted Gov. Martin O'Malley to close the facility in March.
William Purpura, attorney for Troxler, and Brian Murphy, attorney for Walker, said they would appeal the sentences.
Nicole Fuller
2 posing as firefighters sought
City police were seeking two men posing as firefighters who entered a Highlandtown home yesterday afternoon and left with the occupant's laptop computer.
About 12:30 p.m., two men dressed in dark blue uniformlike clothing entered a woman's home in the first block of S. Highland Ave. after telling her they were from the city Fire Department and were there to inspect her smoke detector, said Chief Kevin Cartwright, a Fire Department spokesman.
The woman reported that while one man appeared to inspect her first-floor smoke detector, the other man went to the second floor. Moments later, she saw both men leaving, one of them carrying her computer.
Cartwright said the woman waited until her family arrived home before they went to a fire station in the 600 block of N. Highland Ave. and reported the incident.
Anyone knowing the men is urged to call Southeastern District police at 410-396-2422.
Richard Irwin
Man sought in rape of girl, 16
City police were seeking a man who abducted a 16-year-old City College student on her way to school Tuesday morning and raped her in a vacant house.
The girl told police she was waiting for a bus at Greenmount Avenue and East 33rd Street in Waverly about 7:30 a.m. when she was approached by a male age 17 to 25 who was armed with a knife and forced her into a nearby vacant house and raped her.
The girl said the man was wearing a ski mask during the attack and that he fled on foot.
After the attack, the girl reported the incident to police and was taken to Mercy Medical Center for treatment, after which she was released.
Anyone with information about the man's identity is urged to call Detective Rhonda Benavides of the city Police Department's sex offense unit at 410-396-2076.
Richard Irwin