12.16.11: Wagner Sentenced to More Prison Time for Murder of Hopkins Researcher
December 16, 2011 -- Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge John Addison Howard sentenced John Wagner today to more than seven years in prison for violating the terms of his probation when he murdered Johns Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn.
At the request of the Office of the State's Attorney for Baltimore City, the prison time for the probation violation will be served in addition to — rather than concurrently with — the life-plus-20-year sentence Wagner received on October 21, 2011, for murdering Pitcairn.
Wagner was on probation for a 2008 conviction for second-degree assault at the time of the fatal attack in July 2010. For the violation, Judge Howard sentenced Wagner to the full balance of his 2008 sentence: seven years, eight months, and six days.
Wagner's co-defendant, Lavelva Merritt, is scheduled to have a probation violation hearing on December 19, 2011. Last month, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Gale E. Rasin sentenced her to 30 years in prison, 15 of those years suspended, and three years of supervised probation for her participation in the robbery and murder of Pitcairn.
"I commend Judge Howard for imposing the full balance of time and making it consecutive to the murder sentence," State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein said. "This proceeding reflects our commitment to using absolutely every tool at our disposal to ensure that repeat, violent offenders remain in jail and off of our streets."