On Friday, Jan. 24, a Frederick County Circuit Judge sentenced Ruben Terod Williams, 40, to life in prison for the first-degree murder of 41-year-old Mary Alice Seward.
Williams was found guilty by a jury on November 2024, following a trial detailing the brutal killing.
The stabbing was reported in the early hours of Dec. 31, 2022, after Seward was approached by Williams on Linden Avenue near the GetGo gas station on Route 40 during a drug transaction, according to the Frederick County State's Attorney's Office.
Investigators say Williams demanded Seward return money after a dispute over cocaine.
When Seward, who was seated in the driver’s seat of a Ford Escape, refused, Williams pulled a knife, counted to three, and stabbed her in the chest, piercing her heart.
Seward’s boyfriend, seated in the passenger seat, witnessed the attack and drove her to Frederick Health Hospital, prosecutors said, where she was pronounced dead despite life-saving efforts by medical staff.
“This was a horrible stabbing committed by a horrible person with a horrible record,” Frederick County State’s Attorney Charlie Smith said. “We wanted life without parole, but certainly respect the judge’s decision to give a straight life sentence.”
Williams will now serve his life sentence in Maryland state prison.
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