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On April 12, 2017, Crandell pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Investigators believe Crandell helped stage the attempted robbery which led to the murder of Beers.

On Jan. 12, 2016, Beers was targeted by two masked gunmen, who barged into the home, demanded money, and then shot the victim multiple times in the head, chest, hip and hand, according to charging documents.

Around 4:23 a.m., the Charles County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 11500 block of Terrace Drive for the report of a possible shooting. Upon arrival, deputies discovered the body of Beers in the house and began their investigation.

Based on initial findings, investigators believed there was another man, 32, and two women, one aged 52 and Crandell, in the house at the time of the shooting.

According to charging documents, in the summer of 2015, Beers met Crandell who worked as an exotic dancer at a gentleman’s club in Baltimore, and they dated a few times since then.

According to Assistant State’s Attorney Johnathan Stackhouse in court Tuesday, Crandell, who was also dating one of the gunmen, had a plan with three other men to rob Beers. Stackhouse said that Crandell sketched a map of Beers’ home.

He said that the plan was that Crandell would get Beers drunk and have sex with him, while the men robbed his home.

According to Stackhouse, around 2 a.m., Beers was awakened by Crandell knocking on his window. Beers let her in and it was “unclear if Beers had been drinking,” but he did have sex with Crandell, Stackhouse said in court.

Crandell then called and texted the men to come to the home, which they did, and Crandell let them inside.

A friend of Beers sleeping on the couch was awakened and then beaten by the men. Stackhouse said that Beers’ friend, the men, Crandell and Beers were all in Beers’ bedroom, where the men demanded money.

Stackhouse said that this is when Crandell acted like she was not involved and exited the home. The men then got into a physical altercation, which led to the fatal shooting of Beers.

The two men, the driver and Crandell then left the scene, leaving Crandell’s cell phone behind.

Later in the investigation, Reigel Paul Wamack, 25, of Fairfax, Va., who was identified as the gunman, Bryan Javier Aquice, 26, of Arlington, Va., who was identified as the second gunman and Christian Humberto Alvarez, 27, of Dale City, Va., who was identified as the driver, were arrested and charged with first-degree murder and other related charges.

Wamack and Alvarez took a plea deal; both of their sentencing hearings are scheduled for this summer. In April, Aquice was found guilty of all charges, including first-degree murder, in a trial; his sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

“There was an unbelievable amount of [investigative] work done in the case,” Stackhouse said.

He said that Crandell “deserves every minute” of the active time she was getting sentenced to Tuesday.

Beers’ “foster mother” who has known him for 15 years, also made a statement to the court Tuesday. She explained to the court that Beers lived in her home and she witnessed the men shoot and kill Beers that night.

“What she did to Micheal that night will stay with me forever,” she said.

She said that Beers was a father of three children, who are now ages 18, 15 and 3.

“I will never forget the image of what you did to Micheal,” she said.

Crandell’s defense attorney, Gerald Riviello, said that Crandell has been suffering from depression since she was incarcerated.

“I think she has a bad taste in men,” Riviello said.

Crandell also spoke to the court. She said that she was “truly sorry” and that she “wished that none of this took place.”

Before sentencing, Judge Jay West said that the violence was “senseless.”

“It wasn’t worth his life,” West said.

West also mentioned the fact that Beers was a father to three children.

He said that this was “easily” an above-the-guidelines case.

West sentenced Crandell to 25 years, suspended all but 15 years incarceration for the first-degree burglary charge and 20 years, all suspended, to be served consecutively for the conspiracy to commit armed robbery charge, as well as five years probation and restitution of $5,000.

Covington has brought his media presentation “Think About It” to two middle and three high schools this school year. Last week, Covington spoke with seniors and juniors at Westlake High School. On Monday he spoke to Westlake freshmen and sophomores.

“You need to decide right now, with the freedom to choose your own life comes a lot of responsibility to make sure you lead a successful life,” Covington told students.

Covington said that as a young man, he didn’t focus on his grades until an injury kept him away from an athletic scholarship. He went from a 2.0 GPA to a 4.0 in college before joining the United States Air Force, where he served as an intelligence officer.

Covington was elected state’s attorney in 2010, becoming the first African-American state’s attorney in the history of Charles County. He faces no challengers in seeking a third term this year.

Covington told students they don’t have to be wealthy to live a successful life.

“You take care of yourself, you take care of your family, that is a life well lived, and successful,” Covington said.

He also encouraged students to maximize their positive characteristics and strengths.

“Please understand that you were put on this planet for a reason. You are a unique gift. I know I am. I’m Tony Covington and I am a unique gift. I’ve got things I can do, and so does each and every one of you, because I’m no different from any one of you,” Covington told students. “And part of your reason here on Earth is to inspire others, whether it’s a brother, sister, father, mother, someone you meet in the hospital, that’s part of your job.”

Covington urged students to take good advice from people, advising students to avoid drugs and alcohol.

“I guarantee that if you wake up one day, and you see bars, and you’re on the inside of those bars, it is because of drugs or alcohol, one way or another,” Covington said. “People use drugs or alcohol to feel better about something instead of dealing with their reality.”

Westlake Principal Michael Meiser said he felt it was important to get Covington’s message out to students.

“His message and the things he has seen and dealt with in his profession are some things that you guys hopefully will never have to deal with,” Meiser told students. “But he has a great message about how to make wise decisions and how to handle difficult challenges and how he’s overcame those in his life.”

On June 8, 2017, around 11:15 p.m., Charles County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the 2800 block of Homette Place in Waldorf for the report of an armed robbery.

One victim said that one individual had a gun to his head and the other had a knife to his friend’s stomach. The victims told police that they gave the suspects two iPhones and marijuana. The suspects then fled the scene on foot, according to charging documents.

Malik Yorubs Chambers-Thomas, 22, of Brandywine and Marks-Wiggins were both arrested and charged with charged with armed robbery, robbery, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and theft. In 2017, a judge set both men’s bail at $50,000.

On Jan. 8, Marks-Wiggins pleaded guilty to robbery and a violation of probation. Chambers-Thomas pleaded guilty to the same charged on April 4; his sentencing date is set for May 30.

On April 23, during Marks-Wiggins’ sentencing hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Jonathan Beattie asked the court to consider the guidelines for the robbery charge, which includes three to eight years of incarceration.

Beattie told the court that this incident was a “setup robbery” where Marks-Wiggins and Chambers-Thomas knew that the victims would have marijuana on them.

According to Beattie, Chambers-Thomas was named the suspect with the gun and Marks-Wiggins was named as the suspect with the knife during the incident. Beattie said that this makes Marks-Wiggins the second most culpable in the robbery.

Marks-Wiggins also was on probation from a prior charge while he was charged in the armed robbery incident, Beattie reminded the court.

Representing Marks-Wiggins were attorneys Robert Castro and Brendan Callahan.

“Everything that the state said is true,” Callahan said. However, he said that the ‘victim’ that the defendant pulled a knife on was an “inside man” and knew about the robbery and knew what was going to happen.

Nicklas Adams, 22, of Waldorf, who was the ‘victim’ with a knife held to his stomach, was also charged in the case. He pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced to 18 months incarceration in January.

Callahan asked for no more than 18 months incarceration with work release for the robbery charge, given Adams’ sentence.

Castro, who was representing the defendant on his violation of probation, called Marks-Wiggins “a good kid” and “respectful.” He asked for the court to keep Marks-Wiggins local, at the Charles County Detention Center, instead of sending him to the state Department of Corrections (DOC).

“It’s a DOC case every way you look at it,” West said.

West told the defense attorneys that there was a better argument that this was an above guidelines case than a below guidelines case.

He said that the real victim who was robbed at gunpoint was not on the inside; he “could have gotten hurt pretty easily.”

“Someone easily gets seriously harmed in this case,” West said.

West sentenced Marks-Wiggins to six years incarceration at the Department of Corrections for the robbery charge and two years to run consecutive for the violation of probation charge.

The defendant will be credited 300 days incarceration and will have to pay the victims $930 in restitution.

On Nov. 3, Parker was charged with sex abuse of a minor, sexual solicitation of a minor and displaying obscene material to a minor.

Parker was a family and consumer science teacher at St. Charles High School at the time of the incidents and had been teaching at the school since 2015.

In Charles County Circuit Court Nov. 7, assistant state’s attorney Sarah Freeman gave a description of the incident that the victim told detectives.

Freeman said that the investigation began in May. A student told detectives that Parker would remove him from class, buy food for him from various restaurants, and she had him eat the food in her classroom while she talked to him.

She would also text him on his cell phone, Freeman said.

Freeman told the court that the victim said Parker would write him love notes in a composition book and have him read them. The book was later recovered in Parker’s home by Det. Webster with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office.

Some of the letters included Parker stating she had feelings for the victim.

“I have feelings for you. I want to kiss you. Do you ever think about me?” Freeman read to the court.

The victim also told police that Parker stated that she wanted to have sex with him. According to the victim, while in her classroom, Parker showed him several photos of herself naked, as well as a video of herself and another man engaging in sexual acts, Freeman said.

Parker also gave the victim money.

Once notified of the incident, Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) immediately removed Parker from her teaching duties and directed that she have no contact with students, according to a CCPS press release.

The school system’s general practice is to immediately remove any employee accused of inappropriate behavior from having contact with students during the investigation of charges. CCPS places the employee on administrative leave with pay or assigns them to a temporary position in the administrative offices until resolution of the charges, the release states.

All of Parker’s electronic devices were seized. On Oct. 5, the Maryland State Police submitted a findings report to Webster, according to Freeman. Forty-eight images and one video were found and some were considered sexual. Seven of the images were of her having sex with another male, which “matched the description” of the photos the victim said Parker showed him.

Representing Parker was attorney Hammad S. Matin.