News

Governor Hogan issued Executive Order 20-04-18-01 on Saturday, April 18, 2020 which, in the light of COVID-19, details some circumstances and factors that Division of Correction (DOC) prisoners may be released early from confinement.  While the Order applies to all inmates in the custody of the DOC, it does not apply to those inmates in the custody of local detention centers like the Charles County Detention Center.  Nevertheless, I welcome this executive order and view the spirit contained within it as guidance for the Criminal Justice System (CJS) in Charles County.

As the State’s Attorney, I am intent that my office does everything it can to help prevent the spread and impact of COVID-19. While doing so, the public must also be protected from criminal behavior in our streets. This intersection of public safety based on a pandemic, on one hand, and public safety based on crime, on the other hand, makes decision-making more difficult than ever before. The Charles County community, however, should be confident that, based on my observations, all of the decision-makers in the Charles County CJS are making fully informed and well-considered decisions that they sincerely believe are in the best interest of everyone – including detained individuals – in our community.

From the beginning of this crisis, the State’s Attorney’s Office (SAO) has worked with the other branches of the CJS to reduce the jail’s population. Even though at the start of the crisis the detention center was occupied at less than 30%, the CJS still sought to reduce the population as low as possible while at the same time maintaining public safety. Many actions have been taken. For instance, at the Sheriff’s request, the Courts and the SAO cooperated to, almost immediately, put an end to work release and weekend sentences at the jail, thereby reducing the number of people coming in and out of the detention center daily.

The SAO has been reviewing the situation of every detainee in the detention center, whether or not a detainee or counsel has made a request for release, to determine whether their release would be appropriate and, if so, under what circumstances would they be released.  As a result, many detainees have already been granted some type of release either by way of furlough, a reconsideration/modification of sentence, home detention, case dismissal, etc.

Also, well before the Governor’s latest order on this subject, the SAO has reviewed the situation of a number of inmates under the jurisdiction of DOC and housed someplace other than our local detention center.  At the time of this press release, at least one of those individuals has been released.

Because of the proactive and robust efforts by the Charles County CJS to reduce our jail population, the number of cases that fall under the umbrella of the Governor’s new order may be small.  That notwithstanding, the SAO, with the Governor’s order in mind, will re-look at the situation of every detainee/inmate in the local jail and make our recommendations to the Court if and when appropriate.

I ask everyone to follow the advice of public health experts and comply with all executive orders concerning COVID-19.  It truly can be a matter of life or death.

State v. Melvin Edward Johnson, C-08-CR-18-000580

LA PLATA, MD—Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Thursday, February 20, 2020, Charles County Circuit Court Judge Amy J. Bragunier sentenced Melvin Edward Johnson, 63, to 20 years in prison for Home Invasion, First-Degree Assault, Attempted First-Degree Arson, two counts of Second-Degree Assault, Reckless Endangerment and related charges. He also received an additional 35 years of suspended time and will be on unsupervised probation for a period of five years upon release.

On July 1, 2018, officers responded to a residence in the 3300 block of Old Washington Road in Waldorf for a report of a home invasion and violation of a peace order. Upon arrival, officers discovered victim Agnes Reed, who was soaking wet and had a strong odor of gasoline emanating from her clothing. They also observed a portion of the residence’s driveway actively engulfed in flames. Officers were able to make contact with multiple people who were inside of the house at the time of the incident. They reported that Johnson forcefully broke into the residence by smashing a sliding glass patio door, then rushed into the residence and began throwing gasoline on Reed. He proceeded to pour gasoline throughout the house, including a bedroom located towards the back of the house. Johnson was able to successfully ignite a fire in the bedroom, scorching the carpet. A physical confrontation ensued after male occupants of the house tried to restrain Johnson; however, Johnson was eventually able to escape outside. While outside, Johnson lit a cup of gasoline on fire and attempted to throw it onto Reed; however, he hit the driveway instead. At the time of the incident, the residence was occupied by four people. Reed also had an active peace order against Johnson ordering him to have no contact with her.

At sentencing, Assistant State’s Attorney John A. Stackhouse addressed the judge, “When you look at this case in a vacuum, it really is a dangerous and vicious thing to do.” He furthered, “This is a shocking thing to do. She’s lucky that she wasn’t ignited. I don’t know how she would’ve survived that. It was just wildly out of control.”

Sentence
• First-Degree Assault of Agnes Reed
o 20 Years

• Second-Degree Assault of George Toye
o 598 Days Credit Time Served

• Second-Degree Assault of Kelvin Dickens
o 10 Years Suspended Consecutive to Other Counts

• Reckless Endangerment Ralph Sargent
o 5 Years Suspended Consecutive to Other Counts

• Home Invasion
o 20 Years Concurrent to Other Counts

• Attempted Arson
o 20 Years Suspended Consecutive to Other Counts

• Peace Order Violation
o 1 Year Credit Time Served

• Malicious Destruction of Property
o 60 Days Credit Time Served
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State v. Bryan Frederick Simanton, K16-965

LA PLATA, MD—Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Friday, February 7, 2020, Charles County Circuit Court Judge H. James West sentenced Bryan Frederick Simanton, 39 of La Plata, to 8 years in prison for violating the probation of a 2016 case, in which he entered a guilty plea to the Production of Child Pornography, Possession of a Handgun, and Visual Surveillance with Prurient Intent.

An investigation into the 2016 case revealed that Simanton set up a video camera in a juvenile victim’s bathroom at a residence in La Plata. At one point, Simanton gave the victim an alcoholic beverage and the victim fell asleep. The victim reported that when she woke up, Simanton was having inappropriate contact with her. Simanton was subsequently apprehended and on February 3, 2017, he was sentenced to ten years in prison with all but two years suspended, as well as five years of probation. As a part of his probation, Simanton was ordered to have no contact with minors.

After his release, Simanton spent the night at an acquaintance’s house in Harford County with minors present. A juvenile victim who was present inside the house reported to the Harford County Child Advocacy Center that on the evening of September 21, 2018, Simanton provided her and her friends with alcohol and at some point, she fell asleep. The victim also reported that when she woke up, Simanton was touching her inappropriately.

On December 10, 2019, Simanton admitted to violating his probation in Charles County Circuit Court in front of the Honorable Judge H. James West.

At sentencing, Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Proctor, asking for the full amount of suspended time, addressed the judge, “The Court should have no tolerance. There are no excuses for this behavior. We have another victim who had to go through this.”

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State v. Michael Rashid Moore

LA PLATA, MD—Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on January 29, 2020, Michael Rashid Moore, 22 of Waldorf, entered a guilty plea in Charles County Circuit Court, in front of the Honorable Judge William R. Greer, Jr., to the Attempted First-Degree Murder of Ronald Murphy, Jr., Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Crime of Violence, and Conspiracy to Commit the First-Degree Murder of Walter Thomas.

On March 3, 2019, officers responded to an apartment complex in the area of Amber Leaf Place in Waldorf for the report of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers found victim Murphy lying on the floor of an apartment bedroom, suffering with multiple gunshot wounds. Murphy was treated on scene then transported to the University of Maryland Prince George’s Hospital Center, where he was further treated. At the hospital, two bullets were discovered to have traveled to his neck and one bullet traveled to his lung; however, thankfully, he survived.

Two days later, on March 5, 2019, officers responded to the 3000 block of Gallery Place in Waldorf for the report of a missing person. Officers canvassed the area and discovered victim Walter Thomas lying face down by a bike path in the area of Freemantle Court. Thomas, who suffered a single gunshot wound, was unresponsive and pronounced deceased at the scene.

An investigation into the shootings revealed that months prior to Murphy’s shooting, Moore and an acquaintance of Murphy got into a physical altercation. During the evening hours of March 3, 2019, Moore saw Murphy seated in his vehicle in the area of Amber Leaf Place and Wakefield Circle. Moore approached the rear of Murphy’s vehicle and began shooting at him because of the prior altercation. Before fleeing the area, Moore shot Murphy three times in his back.

During the course of the investigation, Moore admitted to detectives that he shot Murphy. Moore also stated that he conspired with another individual to cover up the shooting by doing a random armed robbery that would result in another shooting if the victim gave resistance. Moore supplied the bullet for the shooting.

On the evening of March 4, 2019, Thomas was walking with a friend in the area of Fairchild Court in Waldorf. The men were approached by a suspect who commanded them to not run away. Thomas’ friend was able to flee unharmed; however, Thomas was shot. Thomas attempted to flee the area but collapsed a short distance away.

A sentencing date has been set for March 26, 2020. Moore faces 40 years in prison pursuant to his plea agreement.

C-08-CR-19-000377
• Attempted First-Degree Murder of Ronald Murphy, Jr.
• Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Crime of Violence

C-08-CR-19-000502
• Conspiracy to Commit the First-Degree Murder of Walter Thomas

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State v. Keith Allan Krikstan

LA PLATA, MD—Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Tuesday, January 7, 2020, Charles County Circuit Court Judge H. James West sentenced Keith Allan Krikstan, 32 of Waldorf, to 25 years in prison for two counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor, Production of Child Pornography, and Visual Surveillance of a Private Area.

On January 11, 2018, a detective with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office met with the first discovered victim, who was 12 years old at the time. Victim #1 stated that she had been in communication with Krikstan, her substitute teacher at John Hanson Middle School, through Snapchat, Facetime, and text message. She further stated that during those communications, Krikstan showed her part of his genitalia and asked her to send him inappropriate pictures.

An investigation revealed that from October 2017 through January 2018, Krikstan developed an inappropriate relationship with Victim #1 and on multiple occasions requested and received pictures of Victim #1’s private areas. Krikstan, being Victim #1’s substitute teacher, held Victim #1 back after class on one occasion to talk about the status of their relationship. He then gave her a pass so that she could enter her next class late.

A classmate of Victim #1 learned the nature of the relationship and notified a school resource officer at the school.

Cell phone downloads from both Victim #1’s and Krikstan’s phones corroborated the inappropriate nature of their relationship. Krikstan also admitted to communicating with the victim through text and social media, as well as deleting messages.

During that investigation, detectives with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office discovered an inappropriate video of another juvenile victim, who was also 12 years old at the time. Communications with Victim #2 and her mother revealed that Krikstan babysat her and her sibling on numerous occasions at their residence. Victim #2 also attended John Hanson Middle School.

A further investigation revealed that Krikstan initially became acquainted with Victim #2 through her mother’s place of employment in January of 2017. He later babysat Victim #2 at her residence. In June of 2017, Krikstan secretly set up a recording device in Victim #2’s bathroom and recorded her with no clothes on, unbeknownst to Victim #2. In November of 2017, Krikstan entered Victim #2’s bedroom with Victim #2 and used his cell phone to record her simulating oral sex on a banana. Krikstan coached Victim #2 on what to do while recording.

Downloads from Krikstan’s cellular device revealed the video simulation of oral sex. Downloads from two of Krikstan’s computer devices revealed inappropriate images of Victim #2 captured in her bathroom.

During the course of the investigation, Krikstan admitted to Victim #2’s mother that he had inappropriate feelings for Victim #2.

At sentencing, Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Proctor addressed the judge, “The facts in this case – tying everything together – what else to call the defendant [but a] child predator.”

C-08-CR-18-000694

• Sexual Abuse of a Minor
  • 25 Years Suspend All But 9 Years
  • 5 Years Supervised Probation

C-08-CR-18-000466

• Sexual Abuse of a Minor
  • 12 Years consecutive to other counts
• Production of Child Pornography
  • 3 Years consecutive to other counts
• Visual Surveillance of a Private Area
  • 1 Year consecutive to other counts

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