BALTIMORE (AP) — A violation-of-probation hearing for a woman who was charged in the fatal stabbing of a Johns Hopkins University researcher has been postponed until late September.
The Baltimore Sun reports that prosecutors are waiting to see if Lavelva Merritt testifies that her lover, John Wagner, stabbed Stephen Pitcairn, 23, last year as he was walking home in Baltimore’s Charles Village neighborhood.
Merritt was charged with murder but later pleaded guilty to robbery-related crimes as part of a plea deal. The hearing was pushed back into September so Merritt can be sentenced first in the robbery case.
Wagner’s murder trial is scheduled for August. The newspaper reports that Merritt is expected to say that both she and Wagner robbed Pitcairn, but Wagner stabbed him.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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3 Comments
There should be no plea deal in this case. They should both get the death penalty. Right here right now. Stop wasting tax payers’ money.You took a young life. You will never be able to imagine what this young man’s mother went through as she heard her son take his last breath. Now you and your ‘lover’ should have to take YOUR last breath. You don’t deserve to live and neither does he. Worthless piece of ‘trash’. Typical Balto
July 7, 2011 at 3:58 pm | | Report comment
Death penalty sounds good to me
July 7, 2011 at 4:21 pm | | Report comment
A plea deal? Are you kidding? That is why there is a revolving door in Baltimore’s justice system. Ms. Merritt should be charged with murder.
July 7, 2011 at 4:54 pm | | Report comment