The mother of a man who authorities named "Public Enemy No. 1" for his alleged role in a string of violent crimes urged a Baltimore County judge to see that her son "does have a heart." But prosecutors called him a danger to society who needs to be locked away.
Darryl Martin Anderson, 27, was sentenced Monday to life without parole, plus 35 years, for the July 2012 murder of Derrick Gamble, 31. Prosecutors say Anderson shot Gamble a dozen times as he backed out of a parking space at the Parkville bar Tee-Bee's. A Baltimore County jury convicted Anderson of first-degree murder and handgun charges in December.
Anderson's mother, Melissa Booth, told Circuit Judge Jan Marshall Alexander that growing up, her son was always searching for a strong father figure.
"He does have a heart," said Booth, who was among a group of Anderson's supporters in the courtroom. "He needs help. And I think that's what we should be trying to give him."
Anderson also is awaiting sentencing on March 24 in a separate case in Baltimore, where he was convicted last month of two counts of second-degree murder for a 2013 shooting that left two women dead and one critically injured.
County prosecutors argued that the public needs to be protected from Anderson, whose criminal record spans the past decade.
"The court can clearly see the increasing level of violence," according to Assistant State's Attorney John Magee.
Prosecutors said they don't have a motive for Gamble's killing.
Gamble's fiancee, Myesha Jones, told the judge that Anderson had taken away "a person that meant a lot to a lot of people," including Gamble's children and his parents, adding that Anderson had harmed his own relatives, as well.
"You didn't just hurt me, but you hurt your family too," she said.
City police named Anderson "Public Enemy No. 1" in 2013. He was on the run when he was arrested that July in Birmingham, Ala., and then extradited to Baltimore County to face charges in Gamble's death.
Wearing dress pants and a green shirt and tie, Anderson read from a prepared statement Monday in which he maintained his innocence in Gamble's death. He said he understood the pain Gamble's family was going through because he's also lost loved ones.
Police have alleged that Anderson was a hit man for the Black Guerrilla Family gang. Anderson told the court that he had been involved in a gang at one time because he thought it would provide family-like support, but later cut ties.
Anderson said he came from a caring family but got involved with drugs and alcohol at a young age and looked up to older men who were bad influences. He described what he called "a rough and hard life."
"I have been beat up, stabbed and shot," he said.
Anderson's attorney, Sharon May, said after the hearing that her client plans to pursue an appeal.
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