Royal Farms security guard convicted in Baltimore shooting sentenced to 60 years in prison

A Baltimore judge sentenced a Royal Farms security guard who fatally shot a man at a Southwest Baltimore store in October 2022 to 60 years in prison Thursday.

Circuit Judge Kendra Ausby ruled that Kanisha Spence, 45, will receive the maximum sentence for charges of second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence.

In August, a jury convicted Spence on those two counts but acquitted her of first-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life without parole.

During trial, Spence’s attorney Roya Hanna said she was acting in self-defense when she shot Marquise Powell in the head Oct. 30, 2022, following an argument. Powell died six days later at University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Prosecutors called the death an execution.

Referring repeatedly to the shooting’s “overall callousness” in her ruling Thursday, Ausby described moments when Spence failed to deescalate the late-night encounter. The judge questioned why Spence did not lock the door to the Royal Farms or call 911 after Powell went outside with his sister, “yelling” at him instead, and why she was “waving” a gun she had obtained just months before so close to other people. Spence pulled open the vestibule’s door and fired one shot at Powell, according to video shown at trial.

As she simultaneously ate food and talked on the phone, Spence told a 911 operator that Powell was “alright.” A store clerk applied pressure to Powell’s wound.

“He was dying … because she intentionally shot him for no reason,” Ausby said, “with the gun for which she lied on the permit to get.”

The killing was among a spate of security guard shootings in fall 2022 that prompted state legislators to increase regulation of the profession in Maryland. Two weeks before the Royal Farms shooting, a CVS security guard in Harbor East shot a man in the face after he allegedly approached the officer wielding a hypodermic needle. Keith Luckey, a security guard at a Highlandtown bar, shot and killed soccer coach Kevin Torres on Nov. 7, 2022. A jury determined in December that Luckey had acted in self-defense when he opened fire after Torres threw a piece of brick at him outside the Chris T bar.

Legislation passed last year that will go into effect in June increased the required training for guards and mandated that all private security officers be licensed by state police and covered by insurance.

Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Galey told the judge Thursday that Spence had refused to take accountability and that her actions showed “no regard for human life.” Galey successfully recommended the maximum penalty, citing her “untruthfulness” and saying she had lied on a gun application.

Hanna asked Ausby for a 15-year sentence, at the lowest end of the sentencing guidelines for a defendant without previous convictions. Hanna argued that Spence, a mother of two who was working a double shift at the Royal Farms that night, saw Powell as a threat and had received only “minimal training” on using her weapon. She also said a long sentence would not deter similar violence, since Spence did not seek out the chance to harm Powell.

“When she left her house that day, she had no idea who Marquise Powell was,” Hanna said. “This was a situation where emotions were out of control and the worst thing in the world happened.”

Ausby said she agreed with part of that assessment: “Your client was out of control. There was no evidence to support why she was out of control.”

Marquise Powell’s uncle and mother also spoke, describing a forgiving and dependable 26-year-old who played an important role in the lives of many extended family members. Powell had one daughter, his mother said while weeping, who he will never get to watch grow up now.

“He reached everybody with his heart,” said Corey Hill, Powell’s uncle.

Hill said his nephew’s killing highlighted the unfair risks that Black men face from strangers who fear them.

“They always look at you as a threat and that’s scary all the time,” he said.

Spence, who is also Black, appeared in court wearing pink scrubs and a blue surgical mask but did not address the court.

Baltimore Sun reporter Alex Mann contributed to this article.