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Deanthony Lamont Warrick, 35, of Indian Head, was convicted by a jury following a four-day trial for his role in the violent death of 29-year-old La Plata resident Jasmine Lakesha Hicks in April 2023, according to the state prosecutor's office.
On Friday, Aug. 9, Charles County State's Attorney Tony Covington announced that Warrick has been sentenced to life in prison without parole (LWOP).
“The decision to seek a LWOP sentence – the most serious penalty in the State of Maryland – is mine and not made lightly," Covington said. "Unless I give the defendant advance notice that we are seeking LWOP, the Court cannot impose it.
"We did give proper notice in this case, and I am gratified that the Court, having heard all the evidence at trial and all the testimony and arguments during sentencing, saw this case the way I did and imposed LWOP."
At approximately 6:40 p.m. on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 officers from the Charles County Sheriff's Office responded to the 2300 block of Woodberry Drive in Bryans Road, where there was a report of a woman - later identified as Hicks - who was injured in the yard of a local home.
Officers found Hicks suffering from nearly two dozen stab wounds.
She was pronounced dead at the scene, and the Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide.
The investigation led detectives to identify Warrick as a suspect after they determined he and Hicks were known to each other and the incident was a domestic-related murder.
Prosecutors say that the investigation found that Warrick and Hicks were outside of his home before the stabbing, which happened after the two got into a verbal altercation about items stolen from his residence.
During the altercation, Warrick began stabbing her repeatedly, and at one point reportedly told Hicks "don't make me kill you," before fleeing the area.
Hicks was stabbed in her head, face, neck, shoulders, back, chest, abdomen, and arms, and an autopsy revealed 20 "distinct wounds" on her body.
The murder was captured on video and Warrick later confessed to the killing.
“If I have ever seen a case that deserves life without parole, it is this one," Assistant State’s Attorney Laura Caspar said. "(Warrick) left her in that yard, all alone, in the dark, to bleed to death.
"And, as we know from the surveillance audio, her death did not come mercifully quick. She suffered greatly before her death. This was vile, malicious, and vengeful.”
A judge added, "this was a heartless death ... cold-blooded and vile."
Warrick was convicted of:
- First-degree murder;
- Wearing and carrying a dangerous concealed weapon on his person;
- Wearing and carrying a dangerous weapon with the intent and purpose of injuring Hicks;
- Possession of CDS: Phencyclidine;
- Possession of a regulated firearm.
"The vicious and callous way he committed this crime, in my mind, says he should never walk free in our community again," Covington addd. "He purposefully and permanently erased Jasmine Hicks from this planet – forever.
"Justice requires he be held accountable. The jury held him accountable with their verdict and the Judge imposed the proper and just sentence we requested.”
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