A Baltimore man wants to spend what amounts to two life sentences in a mental institution, just three years after pleading guilty to the murders of 21-year-old Denita Barrett and 37-year-old Ashley Lambert.
On Oct. 10, Christopher “Chris” Tyson, 26, stood before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Piper F. McKeithen and asked that the court approve his request to spend his two life terms at the Patuxent Institution, a high security correctional facility to treating inmates’ with mental health problems.
Though a motion was submitted to reconsider Tyson’s sentence, defense counsel asked that the court refrain from addressing it during the hearing.
On May 10, 2022, Tyson pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder for killing Barrett and Lambert.
Barrett was found unresponsive in her living room on the 2400 block of Annapolis Road around 12:45 a.m. She had visible injuries to her face and neck after being strangled to death following an argument in which Tyson called her a prostitute.
Six days later, Ashley Lambert was found face down and strangled to death in a room at the Deluxe Plaza Motel on the 6400 block of Pulaski Highway. Lambert’s body was found the morning after Tyson had rented a room for the two of them that night.
When Judge McKeithen asked a correctional officer to remove Tyson’s restraints, Tyson responded with a noise. Judge McKeithen claimed the noise made her feel uncomfortable, and she initially rejected the transfer request. However, after speaking privately with both parties, she took the matter under submission.
Defense counsel then proceeded to explain that the Patuxent Institution aims to rehabilitate convicts who struggle with learning or emotional disabilities. He argued Patuxent was an ideal fit for Tyson, as it would provide access to mental health treatment unavailable in conventional prisons.
The prosecution had no objections where Tyson carries out his sentence.
Judge McKeithen has yet to make a ruling on the transfer request.
