Judge Sentences Fatal Stabbing Defendant to 43 Years

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Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn Stewart Mays ordered a 47-year-old murder defendant to serve 43 years for a 2023 fatal stabbing.

Alphonso Ward was convicted of second-degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon with intent to injure on July 26, 2023, for fatally stabbing 41-year-old Kevin Miller on Oct. 13, 2023, on the 1600 block of Ramsey Street.

In court on Oct. 10, defense attorney Marci Johnson acknowledged Ward’s prior convictions, but they were for non-violent drug offenses when he was 19 years old. Then, Johnson recommended a sentence between 15-and-25 years.

The prosecutor went into detail about the night of the incident, stating that Ward and Miller were in an apartment together for about 15 minutes until Miller was seen on the bottom of the stairs bleeding out, stabbed six times and Ward covered in blood. Johnson countered that Ward did not have a phone, but called for help.

Miller’s family members were in attendance and a few spoke about losing Miller and how heartbroken they were. They pleaded with Judge Mays to give Ward the maximum sentence.

Ward apologized but still claimed that he did not kill Miller and that he shouldn’t have been convicted.

Judge Mays sentenced Ward to 40 years, suspending all but 20 years, for second-degree murder and a consecutive three years for possession of a deadly weapon with intent to injure. Ward will serve five years of supervised probation upon release.