Baltimore City prosecutors dropped murder charges Monday against a woman accused of killing her mother, citing “insufficient evidence.”
Baltimore residents Carolyn Redd, 43, and her boyfriend, Lawrence Damarcus Gee, 34, had been charged with killing Redd?s mother, Mary Page, 63, an employee at the Walters Art Museum.
But prosecutors said they were forced to drop the charges against Redd, after a judge severed the two suspects? cases.
“There was insufficient evidence to proceed against Ms. Redd alone,” said Margaret Burns, spokeswoman for the Baltimore City State?s Attorney?s Office.
Gee?s DNA evidence helped police solve the Aug. 19, 2006, slaying, said city police Col. John Bevilacqua, chief of detectives.
“The final break in the case was two things: incriminating information from Mr. Gee and DNA,” Bevilacqua said at the time of arrest. “The motive appears to be money.”
DNA evidence proved that Gee raped Page, police said.
Homicide detectives found Page raped and dead of strangulation and blunt-force trauma in her house on the 200 block of North Culver Street.
The previous day, Page hadn?t shown up for her job as a security guard at the city museum. Her employer called police, according to charging documents.
Police learned Redd and Gee had lived with Page, but she forced them to leave her house because theywere stealing from her.
Officers noticed Page?s purse was missing from the scene and learned that Redd is the sole beneficiary of Page?s life insurance policy, police said.
Gee?s case has been postponed until October as defense attorneys conduct additional DNA testing.
