‘It Wasn’t Supposed to Go Down The Way It Did,’ Says Murder Defendant at Sentencing

By McKenna Yoder - December 2, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | stabbing | Victims |

Family members of a murder victim expressed their pain and anger in a sentencing hearing before Judge Paul E. Alpert of the Baltimore City Circuit Court on Dec. 2.

Michael Atkinson pleaded guilty to second degree murder and the use of a deadly weapon with intent to harm. He agreed to a binding plea of 40 years suspending all but 20 years for second degree murder with five years probation, three years concurrent for use of a deadly weapon with intent to harm.

Atkinson stabbed victim, Michael Raub, 53, in the heart during a Fourth of July celebration in 2023. The dispute was over a money and Atkinson said he was taking drugs that day and did not intend to murder Raub.

Atkinson’s defense attorney Andrea Jaskulsky noted the two men were friends living together in an abandoned home for over a year prior to the murder. “Drug addict or not,” Jaskulsky said, “No one deserves to die like this.”

During victim impact statements, Raub’s youngest daughter said she hears her mother waking from nightmares every night since the killing. She also said that Atkinson robbed her father of walking her down the aisle, meeting his future grandchildren, and seeing his nieces grow up. She pleaded with Judge Alpert to make sure that Atkinson’s sentence left him with no dignity and no hope because a friend wouldn’t kill a friend. 

Raub’s wife witnessed the murder. She asked the judge for accountability stressing the loss of her husband while the family was already grieving the death of their eldest daughter.

Addressing the judge, Atkinson expressed remorse, “It wasn’t supposed to go down the way it did. I just apologize.” Judge Alpert agreed to the plea and offered his condolences to the family.