Bereaved Mother Calls for Death Penalty at Sentencing for 2017 Murder

By Racquel Bazos - February 16, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Despite defense counsel’s argument to the contrary, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Ronald A. Silkworth allowed bereaved parties to call for the death penalty at the Feb. 15 sentencing of a 41-year-old Harford County man convicted of murder.

Daniel Greene of Pylesville, Md. was found guilty of first-degree murder, home invasion, firearm use in a felony violent crime and having a handgun on his person for the 2017 murder of 31-year-old Jon Hickey on June 23, 2023. Hickey was the new boyfriend of Greene’s ex-mistress, who ended their relationship a month before the murder. 

After Judge Silkworth denied the defense’s motion for a new trial, the prosecutor began by calling Hickey’s murder a “well planned execution,” prefaced by “stalking behavior” and searching the internet for Hickey’s address. Surveillance footage showed Greene break into Hickey’s apartment on the 1800 block of East Pratt Street the night of Nov. 29, 2017. Hickey died of a single gunshot wound to the head. 

Responding to the pre-sentencing report that Greene had become a devout Christian while in prison, the prosecutor said it was “interesting that happened after he killed someone.”

Greene’s ex-wife and the victim’s family and loved ones submitted written impact statements, which the prosecutor read to the court. Both Hickey’s mother and one of the victim’s mentors in the fire department asked the judge to reinstate the death penalty for Greene.

Hickey’s mother told the court she “was in a fog for six years” following his loss and that she wanted to “give up going on in life.” Hickey was her only child and was a talented photographer and baseball player.

He grew up in a family of firefighters. After wishing Greene would be put to death, she said, “I want his parents to feel the pain of losing a child.”

In her statement, Greene’s ex-wife also claimed he was manipulating his family by claiming to be religious and called him both a sociopath and a narcissist. She ended by saying, “I hope for the sake of society you never leave prison.”

The prosecutor asked Judge Silkworth to sentence Greene to life plus 45 years: life for first-degree murder, a consecutive 25 years for home invasion and another consecutive 20 years, the first five years without the possibility of parole, for firearm use in a felony violent crime. 

Defense attorney Thomas Maronick, Jr. said he didn’t think his client’s newfound Christianity should be discounted. He said Greene was “very sad and empathetic” to Hickey’s family, but he would not speak at this hearing at the risk of endangering any future appeal options. He recommended a sentence of 50 years, suspending all but 25 years, to Judge Silkworth. 

While it’s rare for the defendant’s family to speak at a sentencing, Greene’s father chose to address the court. He was supposed to give the judge some context as to his son’s life and personality, but he quickly veered into the family’s feeling that there had been a miscarriage of justice. 

“This has been hell for my family because I know my son is innocent,” he said.

Looking at the prosecutor, he said, “You have intimidated and threatened my family” to keep them from testifying to Greene’s innocence at trial. Before walking away from the witness stand, he announced his family would be appealing Greene’s case and contacting the Innocence Project for assistance.

In her last statement to the court, the prosecutor said, “The reality is [Greene’s] a cold-blooded murderer.”

Judge Silkworth called the incident “cowardly, brutal, unjustified” before rendering his sentence. Daniel Greene will serve life plus 20 years: life for first-degree murder, a consecutive 10 years for home invasion and 10 years, the first five years without the possibility of parole, for firearm use in a felony violent crime.