The man who police said shot five people at an Edgewood business, three fatally, before shooting a sixth person later that morning in Wilmington, Del. will be tried in that state first, Harford County officials said Monday.
At a midday press conference, Harford County State’s Attorney Joseph Cassilly said that Radee Labeeb Prince, 37, will stand trial in Delaware for attempted first degree murder for the shooting of a man at a car dealership on Wednesday. That incident came hours after he shot five people at Advanced Granite Solutions in Edgewood.
Cassilly said that Prince faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for his crime in Delaware, a state which does not have the option of parole.
Prince could stand trial in Delaware in approximately six months, Cassilly estimated, adding that even if Prince is found guilty there, his office would “probably” bring Prince back to Maryland to face trial in this state as well.
He expressed frustration with the lack of more severe penalties in Maryland for an attack which killed three people and critically injured two others. According to Harford County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Cristie Kahler, Wednesday’s incident is the largest mass shooting event in county history.
“For all that carnage, the possible sentence is life in prison,” Cassilly said. “We can ask the court to make it life in prison without the possibility of parole. But one, that’s still a request, and two, my concern is that the General Assembly, ever since the repeal of the death penalty…has done everything they can to attack long prison sentences, and I’m not sure life without parole will still be there as this defendant serves his sentence.”
At a press conference hours after the shooting, Wilmington Police Chief Robert Tracy said Prince has a substantial criminal history in Delaware, including 42 arrests, 15 felony convictions and four misdemeanor convictions.
“I can only tell you how frustrat[ing] it is for me a prosecutor to feel that the justice system does not have a proportional penalty for three murders and two attempted murders, that is any greater than our sister state has for one attempted first degree murder,” he added.
State Sen. Bob Cassilly, the state’s attorney’s younger brother, was also present at the press conference, and said he intends to introduce what he termed a “targeted capital punishment bill” during the General Assembly session early next year. Cassilly, who is a member of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, said Maryland needs a more appropriate punishment for those willing to commit multiple severe crimes.
“There’s got to be a higher answering, there’s got to be a penalty that says, ‘Look, you’ve killed, now it can actually get a whole lot worse from this, you’ve raped, it can get a whole lot worse from this, because we will hold your life over your head,'” he said.
Cassilly’s proposed method of execution under his proposed bill would be a mixture of heroin and fentanyl, explaining that his proposed method makes ironic use of the ongoing public health crisis of opioid overdoses as an answer to concerns that executions could be painful to those convicted.
“The lead opposition to the death penalty in the past has been the terrible pain it supposedly puts the accused through,” he said. “What we’ve seen is that a mix of heroin and fentanyl obviously must not be too painful, because we’ve seen people pumped up with [emergency overdose treatment] Narcan, people on the verge of death, probably practically dead, we pump them with Narcan, they turn back around and they want to do it [substance use] again. It’s just hard to imagine that that can be such a painful death, otherwise we wouldn’t see this happening repeatedly…must be an okay way to go, I suppose.”
Harford County is on pace to see a record number of heroin-related overdoses this year, with more than 350 reported overdoses and more than 60 fatalities so far this year. Joseph Cassilly added that the use of the drug pairing in criminal executions might underline the danger the two drugs pose to the public.
Senior Assistant State’s Attorney David Ryden said that members of the State’s Attorney’s Office and law enforcement officials met with the families and co-workers of the victims at Advanced Granite Solutions earlier in the morning.
“We were able to answer some of their questions, which you can imagine are many, and get them connected to the many agencies involved in this prosecution and victim resources as they begin the long journey moving forward,” Ryden said.
“My office was able to see for the first time the place of unspeakable evil and death that will impact this community for a long time, but it was also a morning of healing for the employees who gathered to support one another as they face unanswered questions, tears, and frustration on why this happened and how they will continue to move forward.”
Nothing more pro life republican than if you kill someone we want to kill you back.
Seriously this is the most important thing to be doing ?
Bobby Cassilly wants to kill the”Edgewood Shooter” with heroin as a sarcastic/ironic form of punishment? Time to throw the crazy Republicans out of office. Dump Bob Cassilly!
I think the abolishment of the death penalty was a travesty that went against the will of the majority of voters in this State. If we can bring it back, even on a limited basis, fine by me. This piece of vermin that committed these crimes does not deserve to waste oxygen. Senseless, barbaric actions need to be dealt with severely.
It’s a shame too, presumably we have the best legal system SET UP in the world and you don’t want to this gentleman to have the option of a capital punishment for the crimes he is presumed to have committed?
What kind of punishment should he received if he is convicted?
Just be glad we don’t live in a third world country, that political jab/trolling comment wouldn’t even come close to how the population in a third world country would handle this gentleman if he was caught.
Kay has no issues with killing babies but not allowing murderers to be put to death.
The baby is innocent the murderer is not.
Gotta love idiots like her.
I’m all for this legislation, as long as Joe and Bob Cassilly are the first criminals we test the measures of this legislation with. Since they are both traitors to the US Constitution, the Maryland Constitution and the American people, they should welcome this test of Bob’s brilliant idea…..
Dude… you broke he law, you got caught and you paid your debt.
Move on man it’s killing you inside.
What does anything I’ve done have to do with this legislation? Hey “Earl”, why don’t you move on and harass someone else?
Good one SoulCrusher, and I will “second” your motion!
I am extremely tired of republican politicians pandering to the lowest common denominator….their base!
Robert G. Cassilly
Born in Havre de Grace, Maryland, July 1958. Attended Bel Air High School, Bel Air, Maryland; The Johns Hopkins University, B.A. (international relations), 1980 (ROTC distinguished military graduate). Served in Maryland Army National Guard, 20th Special Forces Group, 1976-78; U.S. Army, 7th Infantry Division, 1980-85, 2006-07; U.S. Army Reserve, 1986-90, 2003-11 (bronze star; global war on terrorism service medal; iraq campaign medal; meritorious honor award for military service, u.s. state department). University of Baltimore School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 1988 (heuisler honor society; american jurisprudence awards). Law clerk to Judge Dana M. Levitz, Baltimore County Circuit Court, 1987, and to Judge John J. Bishop, Jr., Court of Special Appeals, 1988. Attorney. Admitted to Maryland Bar, 1988; U.S. Court of Appeals for Fourth Circuit; U.S. District Court for District of Maryland; U.S. Tax Court. Associate Attorney, Kerr-McDonald, LLP, 1988-2004, 2013-. Judge Advocate, U.S. Army Reserves, 2003-08. Senior Litigation Attorney, Ohio Casualty Insurance Company, 2004-06. Judge Advocate, U.S. Army 101st Division, Iraq, 2006-07 (bronze star; u.s. department of state meritorious honor award). Member, Maryland State Bar Association, 1988-; Harford County Bar Association (past secretary). Adjunct Professor (introduction to law), Community College of Baltimore County, 2004-05. Fellow, Academy for Excellence in Local Governance, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, College Park, 2001. Member, Harford County Republican Central Committee, 1992-98 (past chair). Expeditionary Service Award, 2007-08, Superior Honor Award, 2009-10, U.S. State Department (awarded for service in Iraq). Senator of the Year Award, Maryland State’s Attorneys’ Association, 2015. Married; five children, three grandchildren.
Joseph I Cassilly
Born in Harford County, Maryland, 1950. Attended John Carroll High School, Bel Air, Maryland. Served in U.S. Army, 1968-70, F Company, 75th Rangers, 25th Infantry Division, 1970 (Combat Infantry Badge, Purple Heart, & Army Commendation Medal). Attended Harford Community College, 1972; University of Arizona, B.A. (psychology), 1974; University of Baltimore School of Law, J.D., 1977. Admitted to Maryland Bar, 1977. Attorney. Adjunct faculty, Harford Community College, 1977-82. Member, Maryland State’s Attorneys’ Association (secretary, vice-president for training, past president). President, National District Attorneys’ Association, 2008-09 (treasurer, 2003-04; president-elect, 2007-08; board of directors; co-chair, cybercrime committee). Author, Decoration for Valor (2009). Outstanding Marylander with a Disability, Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, 2002. Legacy of Excellence in Litigation Award, University of Baltimore School of Law, 2007. Outstanding Disabled Veteran of the Year, Disabled American Veterans, 2011. Maryland Leadership in Law Award, Daily Record, 2013. Lector, Saint Ignatius, Hickory Catholic Church, Forest Hill, Maryland. Married; five children, two grandchildren.
Yeah, nothing but traitors to the Constitution. You should be ashamed.
Ashamed? Are you serious? I don’t care how many honors you list. You do know that one of these brothers created the largest racketeering operation this State has ever seen and has run it under the guise of a legitimate law enforcement agency. You do know that Valerie Carlton’s baby died in foster care from negligence, due to the falsified charges against the woman, from that same man’s office. You do know that the same man even tried to use Federal Agents to bring Ms. Carlton back from New York, but failed when an actual honorable Court of law prevented the extradition. You do know that this same man has forced false Alford Plea convictions and has used the entire Harford County Circuit Court to cover it up. He encourages the law enforcement of Harford County to bear false witness against the citizens of Harford County and you think he’s great. I’m sorry, but no matter how many awards from the legal guild of thieves he has earned, nothing will ever make me think this man is a human being. As for his brother, look at all the legislation he has introduced to the Maryland General Assembly on behalf of his brother by lending the prestige of his office to his family member. These men believe that every right guaranteed by the US Constitution in nothing but a fallacy that is to be denied by the Harford Circuit Court, a court that is practically run by this fiend. No god fearing Christian acts the way this man does when he is conducting the business of the State and quite frankly, I believe he worships the government and not any god. Yeah, I consider any man who tries to deprive any other man of their rights guaranteed by the US Constitution a traitor to that very document. Yes, I consider any man or group of men who try pass laws that are fundamentally unconstitutional a traitor to the American people. Yes, I consider every organization that involves nothing but prosecutors a guild of thieves. And YES, I believe that these men are traitors to the US Constitution, the Maryland Constitution and the American people. This is the truth, nothing but the truth, so help me god……
Disregard that. I voted for Trump.
The SoulCrusher did NOT and has NOT ever voted in any election in his 45 years on this big blue marble. I consider the entire system of politics a complete and utter tragedy and believe that it should be torn completely down and reformed into what our forefathers hoped it would represent. Now, I was registered as a REPUBLICAN down in Anne Arundel County for many years, but it was all a complete lie. The truth is Edward Thomas Maxwell Jr used my information and registered me as a REPUBLICAN, without my permission or knowledge because he thought I would make a fine young republican. It was complete registration fraud and I always looked down on that man for doing that. P.S. don’t use my screen name to put up more false comments on this website.
SoulCrusher get a job and get off the taxpayers backs! You are leach!
Thanks. Coming from a terrorist like yourself I consider that a compliment!
Y’all are so fixated on hating Cassily that you’re missing the bigger point. This action should be seen as a strong kick to the teeth to Brian Frosh and others in this state that our criminal justice system is irrevocably broken. Harford County is willing to allow this nameless piece of scum to be prosecuted for attempted murder in Delaware where he will likely receive life with no possibility of parole than 3 counts of 1st degree murder in Maryland where he’ll probably be walking the streets in 10 years. The problem is that the bleeding hearts in Annapolis are too dense to realize why their teeth hurt. Crime requires sure punishment. And for the record, I agree with the concept of capital punishment for henious capital crimes.
I must agree with you on this. A murderer in Maryland will walk the streets faster than in any other State.
I really don’t care much either way about the death penalty, though I’d lean more against it. It’s been shown in numerous studies to not be a deterrent. It’s also significantly more expensive to try a capital punishment case (esp. once you factor in all the automatic appeals that drag on for years or even decades in some cases) and to house those on death row than it is for someone facing life in prison. And let’s be honest, there have been numerous people sentenced to death who were later exonerated through DNA or other evidence. We should not be executing people if there’s even the slimmest chance they’re innocent of the crime.
Having said that, if you get sentenced to life in prison that’s exactly what it should be. You stay rotting in prison until the day you die. No chance of parole. If you murder someone I don’t think you deserve to walk the streets again. You forfeited your right.
As far as using a heroin/fentanyl cocktail to the lethal injection? Eh….why not. We all know it’s fatal and certainly works far better than any of the other drug cocktails they’ve tried over the years. It puts them under, gives them a feeling of euphoria, and stops their breathing. Bonus if it’s a drug dealer and they can use his own supply to do it.
When was the last time you saw a drug dealer sentenced to death in Maryland? Furthermore, when was the last time you saw a murderer sentenced to death in Maryland?
Drug dealers do commit murders from time to time….no one in this country is getting a death sentence for merely dealing drugs. We aren’t the Philippines.
No one is getting sentenced to death in MD anymore for obvious reasons…
I don’t see how anything you said has much to do with my post, though I suppose I should be glad not to have gotten one of your dissertations on the rampant corruption in the sherrif’s office, state’s attorney’s office, and court system as a reply.
Your last sentence from your first comment is what was in correlation to what I had to say. Please, reread your own comments….
Hank, your a real joker. maybe a midnite toker, but heroin/fentanyl cocktail for lethal injection is a sick cop fantasy. Its a unreliable inhumane way to murder somebody. Murder is murder whether done by sick criminal or a sick prosecutor.,sick legislator or a sick cop.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3260/why-isn-t-heroin-used-for-lethal-injections
Bleading heart libs own this one. Should have stayed in MD. Even if found guilty, the maximum sentence is three hot meals a day and a roof over his head for life! Great job Dems voting for that!
Don’t forget that life in jail in Maryland isn’t really life in jail. It’s more like a 15 or 20 years sentence…….That is why we have a lot of murderers walking the streets.
Thanks, criminal.
You’re welcome.
I heard Jesse Bane and SoulCrusher are soulmates. Just sayin…
Yeah, well I heard that the Cassilly’s love “Jesse Bane’s Big Blue Balls” and that Uncle Jesse is really the father of Joe’s Children!