Third defendant in home invasion of Hagerstown 95-year-old woman pleas

The third and last defendant in the assault of a 95-year-old Hagerstown woman in March was sentenced to a decade and a half in prison after a guilty plea on Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court.

Taylor Paul Alexander, 24, no fixed address, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and first-degree burglary in the March 7 assault of the woman at her Marshall Street home in the city's West End.

Judge Andrew F. Wilkinson sentenced Alexander to 15 years in state prison for what he described as a "serious crime" against a "totally defenseless" victim.

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The victim, now 96, had previously shared a victim impact statement with the court noting her continued physical struggles as well as fearfulness following the attack.

Alexander was offered the same plea deal, 15 years, as the other two defendants in the case, Jacob Benjamin Kitch-Nordsick and the victim's then-caregiver, Angel Marie Parker, Assistant State's Attorney Cyrus Jaghoory said.

Kitch-Nordsick was sentenced to 15 years, while Parker received 14 1/2 years.

Alexander is the one who asked Parker and Kitch-Nordsick where they could find some money, Jaghoory told the court. And it was Alexander who brought the masks and gloves to the crime scene.

Parker was working as a home health nurse for the woman at the time.

Jaghoory said the sentencing guidelines for Alexander, who did not have a previous criminal record, were four to nine years, but the state didn't feel that would adequately represent the actions that day.

Parker served as the lookout and only Alexander and Kitch-Nordsick know what happened in the house that day, Jaghoory told the court. Both men said it was the other who assaulted the woman, he confirmed after the hearing.

But Jaghoory told the court that both men knew the 95-year-old woman had been beaten and did nothing to prevent it nor did they call police.

There are questions about what could be proven to a jury, without reasonable doubt, about certain evidence when it comes to some of the charges in the case, Jaghoory told the judge. But all three defendants are accomplices and are guilty of first-degree assault and first-degree burglary.

Jaghoory asked the judge for a 15-year sentence due to the "heinousness and brutality" of the incident.

Samuel Nalli, a private defense attorney who represented Alexander on behalf of the public defender's office, told the judge that Alexander came from the South to Maryland for a girlfriend and that didn't work out. He said his client has been dealing with homelessness and drugs and is taking responsibility for his participation in these "horrible acts."

Alexander appeared in court wearing an orange sweater and gray pants with his hair up in a small bun and ponytail.

In explaining why he agreed to a 15-year sentence, going above the sentencing guidelines, Wilkinson noted several factors about the crime. They included that the judge believed Alexander played a major role in the crime, that the level of harm was excessive, that there were special circumstances regarding the woman such as her age and health, that the crime was vicious and that a position of trust was exploited. While Parker was the woman's caregiver, Alexander benefited from Parker's position, Wilkinson said.

Noting he said the same thing to Kitch-Nordsick at his plea hearing last week, Wilkinson told Alexander that he thinks Alexander is the "luckiest guy in this room that she didn't die. She easily could have."

Alexander's plea deal

As part of Alexander's plea agreement, other charges in the case against him were dropped. They included home invasion, second-degree assault, robbery, fourth-degree burglary and theft of $1,500 to less than $25,000, according to court records.

Alexander must pay separately, or jointly with the other two defendants, $10,000 in restitution for the money stolen from the woman's home.

Wilkinson sentenced Alexander to 25 years, with all but 15 years suspended, for the first-degree assault plea and suspended a 20-year sentence for the first-degree burglary plea. The sentences would be consecutive and Wilkinson credited Alexander with 319 days time served.

Upon his release, Alexander will be on supervised probation for three years and then unsupervised probation for two years. He is to submit to evaluations for mental health, alcohol and drugs, and is not to have contact with the victim or her family, the judge said.

Nalli said it was a "fair resolution and my client accepts that."

Nalli confirmed Alexander did not offer his apologies to the victim.

Co-defendants received similar plea deals in assault, burglary case

Kitch-Nordsick, 24, pleaded guilty on Jan. 18 to first-degree assault and first-degree burglary, according to court records.

Wilkinson sentenced Kitch-Nordsick to 15 years in state prison. That includes 25 years with all but 15 years suspended on the assault charge and to 20 years consecutive, all suspended, on the burglary charge, according to court documents. He had 314 days credit for time served. When released, he is to be on supervised probation for three years and then unsupervised probation for two years.

The maximum total penalty for first-degree assault and first-degree burglary, consecutively, is 55 years.

Other charges against Parker and Kitch-Nordsick, including attempted first-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder, were dropped as part of the plea deals.

Andrea Cheeatow, a private defense attorney who represented Kitch-Nordsick in court on behalf of the public defender's office, wrote in an email that the sentence he "received was far more than we had anticipated."

Cheeatow said she asked for the lower end of sentencing guidelines of seven to 13 years for Kitch-Nordsick, who has a record.

"We extended his apologies and remorse for his actions and told the court of his addiction history and his actions were fueled by his addiction," Cheeatow wrote.

While court records list no fixed address for Kitch-Nordsick, Cheeatow said he's from Pennsylvania.

During Parker's plea hearing in October, her attorney read a letter from Parker in which she 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."

"I inadvertently caused pain on people who did not deserve it," Parker wrote.

Parker, 34, of Hagerstown, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and first-degree burglary — both felonies. She was sentenced to 14 1/2 years in state prison, not counting suspended time. 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.

Judge Joseph Michael sentenced Parker to 20 years with all but 18 months suspended for the burglary. He sentenced her to 25 years to be served consecutively, with all but 13 years suspended for the assault.

Michael 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 victim was using a walker at the time of the attack.

Per a victim impact statement filed last year in court, the woman continued to have difficulties with eating, hearing and mobility. She also doesn't like to drive anymore and is fearful and paranoid of strangers visiting her home, even for medical care.

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.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: 3rd man gets 15 years in 2022 Hagerstown home invasion