Former caregiver pleads in Hagerstown home invasion that injured 95-year-old woman

A Hagerstown woman was sentenced Thursday to 14 1/2 years in state prison in the March 7 assault of a 95-year-old woman for whom she was hired as a caretaker, and the theft of $10,000 in cash from the woman's home.

Angel Marie Parker, 34, of Hagerstown, pleaded guilty in Washington County Circuit Court on Thursday to first-degree burglary and first-degree assault — both felonies — in what has previously been described as a home-invasion robbery of the Hagerstown woman in the city's West End.

Parker's co-defendants Jacob Benjamin Kitch-Nordsick, 23, of Hagerstown, and Taylor Paul Alexander, 23, of no fixed address, have trials scheduled for next year.

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Assistant State's Attorney Cyrus Jaghoory said Parker was the setup and lookout. While she didn't enter the victim's house, Parker has "accomplice liability" in the assault, he said.

"Thank God it didn't end as horribly as it could," Jaghoory said.

The victim, who was using a walker at the time of the attack, survived her injuries and is now 96. She continues to have difficulties with eating, hearing and mobility, according to a victim impact statement filed in court. She also doesn't like to drive anymore and is fearful and paranoid of strangers visiting her home, even for medical care.

Judge Joseph Michael described the case as "very important" to a lot of people, including the victim and Parker's children.

Michael acknowledged Parker's struggles in life, but asked how the community should address the issue of people who hatch a plan to sneak into a woman's house and steal $10,000 — not even getting to the injuries yet.

Then he reminded Parker she was informed outside the house that night by one of her co-defendants that the woman had been pushed down and attacked.

Michael said Parker knew that, but "did nothing."

He also noted that Alexander and Kitch-Nordsick would not have known about the victim and the cash in her home if Parker hadn't told them.

The sentence for assaulting and burglarizing vulnerable adult

Michael sentenced Parker separately on the two charges.

For the burglary, he sentenced her to 20 years with all but 18 months suspended.

For the assault, he sentenced her to 25 years to be served consecutively, with all but 13 years suspended. With the assault being a crime of violence, Parker must serve at least half of the 13 years.

Parker gets credit for 217 days served in the Washington County Detention Center.

Other charges, including attempted first-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder, were dropped as part of the plea agreement.

When Parker finishes her prison sentence, she will be on supervised probation for three years, followed by another two years of probation to be supervised for restitution only, Michael said.

Michael said there is a $10,000 judgment for Parker to pay separately, or jointly with Alexander and Kitch-Nordsick if they are convicted. The money is to go to the victim or her designee.

Parker also is to complete 250 hours of community service upon her release, or some other acceptable service since she might not be permitted to participate in community service due to the crime of violence, Michael said.

Jaghoory had asked for Parker to be sentenced to 15 years.

Jaghoory told Michael the same plea offer was made to Alexander and Kitch-Nordsick. Parker was the only one who had agreed to it as of Thursday.

The home invasion in the West End

The woman told police she was sitting in a recliner in her Marshall Street home around 10:46 p.m. on March 7 when she heard the screen door opening. She got up and when she reached for the door it opened and a masked male entered, pushed her to the floor, got on top of her, and put both hands over her mouth, causing her to struggle to breathe and "making her feel as if he was trying to kill her," charging documents state.

She woke up on the floor alone in the house and activated her Life Alert pendant, which summoned police and an ambulance. Police estimate she was likely unconscious for about 10 minutes, court documents state.

Family members told police the woman had a medical issue for which she required home nursing care and identified Parker as a caretaker that made her feel uncomfortable. The woman told police that her caregivers might have seen her taking money out of a box.

The victim was treated at Meritus Medical Center east of Hagerstown for lacerations, one of which required stitches, as well as scrapes and bruises "consistent with being strangled or suffocated," Hagerstown Police wrote in charging documents for the case.

According to the victim impact statement, the woman got tangled up in her walker when she was attacked and knocked to the floor. The left side of her body was injured, including a fractured rib and injured femur.

Kitch-Nordsick is facing charges that include attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and home invasion, according to court records.

Alexander's charges include home invasion, first-degree assault and first-degree burglary, according to his case docket.

Parker writes of 'regrettable choice' and prays for forgiveness

Michael took time in court to read in silence a victim impact statement and 14 letters of support for Parker he'd just been handed. The letters for Parker included ones by her husband, children, other friends and family, and a former daycare employer.

He learned of Parker's struggles through the letters and listening to Assistant Public Defender Loren Villa's comments. Those struggles included the stillbirth of one of her children and the use of drugs such as Percocet, crack cocaine and heroin. Villa also noted Parker gave birth to her first child at age 14.

Parker didn't have a prior criminal record. Michael noted she had a history of breaking the law with her drug use, but "we take a different view of that than we once did."

Villa read a letter from Parker out loud in the courtroom, with the victim's daughter sitting in the gallery.

Parker, through the letter, referred to the "regrettable choice I made" and being "lost in my addiction." She was "lost in grief" over her daughter's stillbirth and looking to numb her pain by any means necessary, she wrote.

"I inadvertently caused pain on people who did not deserve it," Villa said Parker wrote. Parker wrote she felt terrible about the emotional scars she left on the woman.

Parker also wrote about the effect her actions had on her three surviving children and how this was "not the example I wanted to set for my children."

Parker wrote that she deserved to be punished. She said she prays that through therapy and time her children and the victim will forgive her and that she will find a way to forgive herself.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Former caregiver sentenced in assault and burglary of 95-year-old