Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey took to the courtroom floor Tuesday, a rare step saved for the most egregious of crimes, Ivey’s spokesman Roman Korionoff said.
On trial is Robert Washington Francis, 20, who, along with 21-year-old Robert Tyrone Stamp, is accused of being involved in a March 2007 drive-by shooting in which a bullet missed its intended target and killed Theodora Summers, 40, as she was getting ready for work. At the time, police said people were standing on a driveway around 5:15 p.m. on the 6700 block of 96th Avenue in Lanham when occupants in a vehicle opened fire, striking a 24-year-old man in the hip. The shots were the result of an ongoing dispute.
As police investigated, Summers’ sister became alarmed that she hadn’t shown up for work. Officers responding to the sister’s concern found Summers dead in her home. This is the third trial Ivey has argued since taking office in 2002.
