Martinsburg man sentenced in Hagerstown shooting case

A Martinsburg, W.Va., man was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in state prison after pleading guilty to first-degree assault for the Oct. 7 shooting of a man in the Jonathan Street neighborhood of Hagerstown.

Kahleel Jamal Graham, 27, is the second defendant to be sentenced in the shooting of Hagerstown resident Cedric Williams around 6 p.m. on that fall Saturday.

Assistant States Attorney Amy Taylor told Washington County Circuit Court Judge Joseph S. Michael that the other co-defendant, Xzavion Malik Powell , had identified Graham as the person who shot Williams.

Michael told Graham the shooting was "completely avoidable."

Graham had gotten out of prison shortly before the Oct. 7 incident; "You were here for less than a day," Michael said, "and now you're going to be staying (in a Maryland state prison)."

As part of the plea deal, other charges against Graham, including attempted first-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder, were dismissed.

Taylor said Williams knows about the plea deal and is satisfied with the resolution. She said she thinks Williams is troubled by just how far it went and that the incident could have ended worse.

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Taylor said she still can't understand why Graham, so young, would do this after being released from prison just hours before. She noted that he said he is now 27 and only had an eighth-grade education.

Graham is on a "path to be a menace to society" and causing harm, Taylor said, and that having a gun was a bad decision.

Both she and defense attorney Andrea Cheeatow said during the hearing they hope Graham rehabilitates himself.

Cheeatow, a private defense attorney who took the case on behalf of the public defender's office, said after the hearing that she advised her client to get his GED diploma.

Michael sentenced Graham to 20 years in state prison, suspending eight years. Graham has credit for about eight months time served.

Once he is released he will be on probation for three years, with the first 18 months supervised. He is to pay about $280 in restitution for Williams' medical bills and money stolen during the incident.

The case had been scheduled for trial this week.

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Differing views of shooting

Hagerstown Police responded to the 300 block of Jonathan Street around 6:04 p.m. on Oct. 7 for a report of shots fired, and learned Williams had multiple gunshot wounds, Taylor said.

Four 9 mm shell casings were recovered.

Williams' wounds included through-wounds to an arm and a leg and one to the groin area, she said.

Taylor said there would have been testimony that Williams was shot twice as he tried to run away from two men along Jonathan Street. Powell identified his cousin, "Leel," as the shooter.

Cheeatow alleged that Graham and Powell went there to buy drugs from Williams. Graham had just gotten out of jail, Cheatow said; he wanted to party and made the wrong decision.

If there had been a trial, Cheeatow alleged there would have been evidence that Williams had the gun and pulled it on Graham. A struggled ensued and the first shot was by accident, she said.

Graham takes responsibility for the second shot, Cheeatow said. He panicked.

"There should be a sign," Michael said. "Welcome to the wrong place at the wrong time."

Cheeatow said she would file a request to have Michael consider, at some point, allowing Graham's custody to be transferred to a treatment program for mental health and/or drug treatment as he had issues in both areas.

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Co-defendant in October shooting pleaded previously

Powell, 27, of Hagerstown, entered an Alford plea in April to misdemeanor reckless endangerment in this case.

An Alford plea does not admit guilt, but acknowledges the prosecution has enough evidence to obtain a conviction.

Michael sentenced Powell to five years in state prison, suspending all but two years.

Powell took the plea deal after a two-day trial in which jury members found him not guilty of attempted second-degree murder and theft charges, while deadlocking on assault and reckless endangerment charges.

Michael then acquitted Powell of the more serious attempted first-degree murder charge and armed robbery charges since the jury found Powell not guilty of the lesser similar offenses.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Martinsburg man sentenced in Hagerstown shooting case