State v. Bryce Caleb Timothy Brown, C-08-CR-23-000505
LA PLATA, MD— Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Monday, March 2, 2026, Charles County Circuit Court Judge William R. Greer, Jr. sentenced Bryce Caleb Timothy Brown, 22, of Waldorf, to 40 years in prison for the Second-Degree Murder of Gloristine Pinkney, as well as Theft: $25,000 to under $100,000, Fourth-Degree Burglary, and Theft: $1,500 to Under $25,000. Upon release, Brown will be on supervised probation for a period of five years. If he violates the terms of his probation, he faces an additional 18 years in prison.
A Charles County jury found Brown guilty of the above-listed charges on December 16, 2025.
On July 2, 2023, officers with Charles County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of a burglary in progress at the Lowe’s store in Waldorf. Upon arrival, officers spoke with store employees and managers working the overnight shift who reported hearing loud banging noises. Officers also observed damage to the store’s roll-up doors and security gates.
Officers then responded to a nearby Home Depot, where employees reported hearing a loud scream. At that location, officers discovered the body of victim Pinkney partially pinned beneath a forklift. Pinkney was declared deceased at the scene.
An investigation revealed that Brown, who was employed by Lowe’s at the time, stole a forklift from the fenced in rear lot of the store and rammed it through the business’ rear gates and roll-up door. Brown then drove the forklift out of the Lowe’s and into the parking lot of Home Depot, where he rammed it into a parked car. The victim, who was unknown to Brown and had been asleep in the vehicle, exited the car and attempted to flee. However, Brown followed her and struck her with the forklift, running her over.
After the incident, Brown fled the scene in the victim’s car. He used her credit card to purchase gas and traveled to Washington, D.C. and Virginia before returning to his Waldorf residence, where he was later apprehended.
During the course of the investigation, Brown was developed as the suspect through witnesses and surveillance video. The rear gate used to enter the Lowe’s was processed and swabbed for DNA, which was consistent with Brown’s DNA. Additionally, Brown’s fingerprints were found on the victim’s vehicle, and the vehicle’s keys were located inside of Brown’s residence along with a pair of shorts that had the victim’s blood on it.
At sentencing, Assistant State’s Attorney Jonathan Beattie, asking for a 50-year sentence, stated that what happened was “a tragic loss of life in the most horrendous way possible.”
Before sentencing him to 40 years in prison, the Honorable Judge Greer told Brown, “This is a terrible situation; it affects your family and Ms. Pinkney’s family. Your family will get to see you and talk to you, but Ms. Pinkney’s family will not. It’s sad all the way around.” He furthered, “it’s clear there was a mental health issue, but it’s not clear that what happened was a result of that. I can’t overlook how horrendous that action was.”
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