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By
Andrew Michaels
- June 3, 2023
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Shooting
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Suspects
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Victims
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Convicted homicide defendant Craig Carter was sentenced to life plus five years on June 2 for the murder of 40-year-old Ronald White outside Westside Pharmacy in May 2021.
A jury found the 34-year-old defendant guilty of first-degree murder and three weapons charges in February before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Ronald Silkworth, who presided over Friday’s sentencing.
Judge Silkworth imposed a sentence of life for first-degree murder; a consecutive 20 years, suspending all but five years, for firearm use in a felony violent crime; and a concurrent 15 years, suspending all but five years, for firearm possession with a felony conviction. The defendant’s charge of having a handgun in a vehicle was merged with the other counts.
“Mr. Carter’s record indicate he is the definition of a ‘repeat violent offender,’” the prosecutor told the judge as she detailed the events that unfolded on May 17, 2021.
The prosecutor reminded the judge that video surveillance footage placed Carter at the corner of W. Pratt and Harmison streets around 2:30 p.m. when he got out of the front passenger’s side of a white Honda Accord. As he stepped out of the video’s frame, she said, it was within seconds that people are seen running away.
A water bottle found nearby also linked Carter to the crime scene.
“He has been given the opportunity for rehabilitation and chosen not to take that path,” the prosecutor said. This was the defendant’s fourth arrest for a handgun charge, she said, asking the judge to impose a sentence of life plus 30 years.
Defense attorney David Walsh-Little asked for a significantly lower sentence of life, suspending all but 35 years. Defense counsel continued that his client felt he never had a childhood, having endured sexual, physical, and emotional abuse.
Walsh-Little noted that Carter was professionally diagnosed with ADHD, while the defendant and his family believe he may have bipolar disorder, and recommended Carter for the Patuxent Institute.
“I have to say this is just senseless,” Judge Silkworth said before handing down his sentence. “There were so many opportunities to avoid this. It shouldn’t have happened, but it did. …The good news for you is that you still have a life.”
The judge concluded that he was open to modifying the sentence in the future should Carter improve.