Annapolis: A man who killed five people in a newspaper in Maryland was sentenced to Tuesday to more than five sentences of life without the possibility of parole – with an additional 345 years added to ensure he had never been released from prison.
Nee Arundel County Judge Michael Wach ordered a sentence for Jarrod Ramos, who had previously been a criminal judge responsible for killing Wendi Wullers, John Mcnamara, Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen and Rebecca Smith with rifles in June 2018.
The attack was one of the worst attacks on journalists in US history.
Before announcing a sentence, the judge heard the survivors and family members who were killed describing the pain and loss they experienced.
He emphasized the courage of family members who spoke.
“The defendant did not get the final say”, said Wachs.
“First amendment and the community gets final say.” Wachs also showed that Ramos did not show regret for the crime and said he would kill more if he was released.
He described Ramos’s actions as “cold-blooded attacks and counted on innocent employees from a small city newspaper.” “The impact of this case is just very large”, said Wachs.
“To say that the defendant showed a feeling and complete neglect of the sanctity of human life was only a very large statement.” The victim described the shooting as an attack on journalism.
Selene San Felice, a former reporter in the newspaper, said that while Ramos killed five of his colleagues, he could not stop the newspaper.
“Remember this: You can’t kill the truth,” said San Felice.
Ramos pleaded guilty but was not replied to criminally to all 23 counts of it in 2019, using the Defense version of Maryland’s madness.
This case was postponed several times before and during the Pandemic Coronavirus.
In addition to five sentences of life without the possibility of parole, Wachs ordered a lifelong sentence for an attempted murder of photographer Paul Gillespie, who said that Ramos almost missed him by explosion of rifles as he ran out of the highway.
The judge also sentenced Ramos to 345 years in prison with other charges.
“The judge is very clear so Jarrod Ramos should not be allowed to get out of prison – ever,” Anne Arundel County State Anne Colt Leitess.
The family member who was killed shouted in court when they described the sadness they had experienced and the impact of the attack on the community of the capital of the state of Maryland.
“We lost our family storytellers, and as our community lost storytellers for all those who were Annapolitan”, said Montana Winters Geimer, Princess Winters.
San Felice, who survived hiding under the table during the attack, told reporters outside the courthouse that it was happy to see the authority “take him away forever.” “It feels very good to be able to see the judge in the eye and also to be able to see the shooter in the eyes”, said San Felice.
“That means a lot to me to be able to tell him on his face that he failed.” Ramos, who sat in court wearing a black mask, refused to make a statement in court when asked by his lawyer, Katy O’Donnell.
After the 12-day trial in July, a jury took less than two hours to reject the argument from lawyer Ramos that he could not understand the crime of his actions.
Prosecutors continued Ramos, 41, acted because of revenge against the newspaper after publishing a story about his guilty request for alleged violations of law to harass the former secondary school classmate in 2011.
The prosecutor said his planning was long and careful to make preparations For his long arrest and detention – it was proven he understood the crime of his actions.
The prosecutor also emphasized how Ramo was titled 911 from the Kampung Room after the shooting, identified himself as a gunman and said he gave up – evidence that he clearly understood his actions crime.