Charges Dropped Against Former Md. Inmate In Prison Slaying
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- Washington County prosecutors are dropping charges that a former state prison inmate concealed a homemade knife used in a slaying at the Maryland Correctional Institution near Hagerstown.
The Herald-Mail reports that accessory charges were dismissed Tuesday against 24-year-old James Valentine of Edgewood.
Assistant State's Attorney Christopher McCormack says the state had no evidence Valentine conspired with another inmate to kill 22-year-old Deavel Johnson in March 2013. McCormack says prosecutors could only show that Valentine had possession of the weapon afterward.
Inmate Andre Washington was convicted in December of second-degree murder and possession of a weapon in Johnson's death. His sentencing is set for Jan. 28.
Prosecutors say Washington stabbed Johnson in the neck in an apparent gang hit in a minimum-security, barrack-style housing unit that slept 64 inmates.
(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
