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Donuts Shop Killer Escapes Death Penalty

A P Kamath in Washington

Trone Tyrone Ashford showed no emotion as a judge in the Maryland Circuit Court sentenced him on June 25 to two terms of life in prison without parole, and an additional 50 years. Ashford was held guilty of the murders of two Indian immigrant employees of a Dunkin' Donuts shop during a robbery last October. The sentence means Ashford has no chance of coming out of prison alive.

Ashford, 27, who had faced the death penalty, was ordered that the sentences be served consecutively. Judge E Allen Shepherd followed the sentencing recommendation of the jury, which deliberated over four days.

The sentencing came after a nine-day trial in which Ashford and his lawyers argued that he was not the trigger man who killed Mukesh Patel, 35, and Kanu Patel, 28, during the robbery on October 15. The robbery and murders took place around three in the morning.

A third Dunkin' Donuts employee, Ashvin Patel, 44, was seriously wounded and left for dead. He was rescued by firefighters who arrived to put out a blaze set by the killers. The robbery yielded $100 that was used to buy cocaine.

Ashford and his two accomplices hurled racial insults during the robbery. All three are African Americans. They also made fun of the limited English the three immigrants spoke.

Ashford told the court that he had been drinking heavily and smoking marijuana before going to the donut shop situated in Camp Springs in a dingy area near the Andrew Airforce base.

The shop reopened about a week ago when the owner Jay Patel was persuaded by community leaders to start it again.

Ashford's friend John Lemon Epps suddenly announced robbery while they visited the 24-hour shop in Camp Springs, he added. Ashford said he was so scared of what could happen that he hid in the bathroom as the shots rang. He had entered the shop to buy donuts, Ashford told the court.

But several witnesses, including the 17-year-old girl who participated in the robbery and then turned a police witness in the hope of a less severe sentence, told the court that Ashford bragged of shooting three men. The murder weapon was found in his house.

Though the prosecutors had asked death penalty for Ashford, they said they were glad that he would spend the rest of his life in a prison. "We're very pleased with the outcome," said Assistant State's Attorney John Maloney.

"Mr Ashford deserves to be in prison for the rest of his life," said Assistant State's Attorney Tara Harrison, who had helped Maloney to prosecute the case.

Michael S Blumenthal, Ashford's attorney, said his client was relieved that the sentence wasn't death.

Several jurors said hat they didn't want to sentence Ashford to death in part because he is married and has two children.

Ordering his death would be a miscarriage of justice, said one juror, adding that two wrongs don't make a right.

Two of the three suspects in the murders have been convicted. Alicia N Holloway, 17, pleaded guilty early this month to two counts of felony murder and testified against Ashford. She faces a maximum of 20 years in prison when she is sentenced after three months. The other co-defendant, Epps, 20, is awaiting trial.

The prosecution argued that Ashford was in charge of the scene and was the trigger man.

Though Ashford's lawyers told the jurors that his client's confession admitting he shot all the three men was forced out of him during 13 hours of police questioning, the jury did not buy the argument.

Ashford initially said he knew nothing about the murders, as per the police records, then said he was at the doughnut shop but didn't shoot anybody. As the night wore out, he confessed that he shot one of the victims accidentally, and ultimately admitted he shot all the victims.

Later when the trial started he said he signed the statement admitting to the murders because detectives did not give him his medication for his severely arthritic back. The detectives say he never mentioned his back pain or any other medical condition.

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