State’s Attorney Tony Covington commenting on the sentence said, “Great job by ASA’s Granados and Beattie. It took a long time, but this defendant was finally held accountable for Crystal’s demise. I hope her family believes that justice was done in this difficult case.”
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A Nanjemoy man accused of murdering a 29-year-old woman in 2011, was sentenced to 60 years after he entered a guilty plea to two of the four counts that the jury could not present a verdict for during a trial in February, as well as two other counts.
In Charles County Circuit Court Monday, Raymond Daniel Posey III, 25, of Nanjemoy pled guilty to robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery as well as two counts of influencing a witness.
Posey was scheduled to be retried Oct. 2 on four of the 13 counts the jury could not decide a verdict on: conspiracy to commit first-degree murder — which could carry a penalty of a life sentence — second-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. However, he appealed his case just days before.
Posey’s attorneys Kevin Barry Collins and John Chase Johnson said that Posey was taking advantage of the plea deal and not admitting to committing the murder of 29-year-old Crystal Anderson in 2011.
After hearing a summary of the case, and from the victim’s family members, Judge H. Jay West sentenced Posey to 15 years for committing the robbery of Anderson, five years for conspiracy of robbing Anderson, 20 years for each of the two counts of influencing a witness — totaling 60 consecutive years of incarceration without possibility of parole.
Posey also is serving a total of 27 years for two counts of admitting violation of probation from a previous case for failure to obey all laws. These 27 years are served concurrent to his 60 years.
The defendant received credit for the 411 days he has already served since September 2016.
The murder of Anderson allegedly took place on July 26, 2011, when Posey allegedly shot her, and he and Darrayl John Wilson, 26, of Nanjemoy allegedly dumped her body into the woods over a guardrail near Purse State Park in Nanjemoy.
During the trial in February, witnesses said that they last saw Anderson leaving a house party in Nanjemoy with Posey and Wilson that night. The state believes that the defendants drove Anderson from the party to Prince George’s County, where she picked up PCP from her supplier, which she regularly used and sold.
On the way back to the party, Posey and Wilson allegedly shot Anderson to death and threw her body over a guardrail, the state said. The state said in court that her death dissolved a $2,000 drug debt that Posey’s brother had owed her.
Assistant state’s attorneys Johnathan P. Beattie and Francis J. Granados gave a summary of the six-year ongoing case to the court before West made his decision.
Granados told the court the remains that were found in the wooded area of Purse Park included the clothing that matched “exactly” what Anderson’s mother told police she was wearing the night she last saw her before she went missing.
He also said that just days after the alleged murder of Anderson, Posey and his co-defendant Wilson went to the home she was staying in and sold pieces of her clothing, shoes and even her dog found in the home, which was before Anderson’s family reported her missing.
Granados said that the reason why Posey attempted to hang himself, which witnesses testified to, was because he was guilty. He also said that witnesses testified that Posey admitted to committing the murder and said that it was his brother’s idea, that he did not want to do it, and he wished he could take it back.
“This case has always been about getting justice for Crystal,” Granados said.
He called Anderson’s mother, Angela Anderson, the “most patient woman in the world” because this case has taken six years.
Granados told the court that everyday Anderson’s family has to deal with lingering questions about her last moments: “Did she suffer? Was she still alive when she was thrown over that guardrail? What were her last words?”
“Raymond Posey knows [the answers to these questions],” Granados said.
Granados said that he hopes this sentencing brings closure to Anderson’s family, and said “six decades in prison, that’s justice for Crystal.”
“We haven’t talked much about Crystal,” the court has only heard that she dealt drugs, Granados said.
The state had several family members of Anderson’s tell the court how her death has and will forever affect their lives.
Family members told stories demonstrating how caring and giving Anderson was. Some stories included Anderson taking in animals that were in need of a home. Most of the stories included that Anderson was a dependable person and that she would help anyone in need.
Anderson’s youngest sister said that she was “known for her big heart and even bigger shoe collection.” Her sister later broke down on the floor crying when telling the court that her 4-year-old son will never be able to meet his aunt Crystal.
Anderson’s mother was the last family member to speak to the court. She described losing her daughter as a “deep sickening feeling” in her heart forever.
She said that she still cries when she can’t remember Crystal’s laugh. She explained that many friends that she didn’t know that Crystal had came forward to help when Crystal was missing. She said that her friends and family put a lot into searching for her, but “she came back to me in a bag.”
After hearing from the state, Collins with the defense, told the court that Posey was acquitted of murder.
Posey told West that he did not wish to speak.
Before telling the court his decision, West gave Anderson’s mother back the scrapbook of Crystal that she made. He told her that he looked at every single page and that he marked his “favorite” ones.
West also pointed out that to his knowledge, “no one said an ill word about Mr. Posey” during the family member’s speeches to the court.
After giving Posey his sentencing totaling 60 years, he wished him and his family luck.
Originally posted on Maryland Indpendent: