LA PLATA, MD — In a solemn courtroom setting, Tyliek Anthony Spence, a 22-year-old resident of Waldorf, was handed down a life sentence, with all but eight years suspended, by Charles County Circuit Court Judge Donine Carrington Martin for his role in a first-degree murder case. The sentencing, which took place on Thursday, March 7, 2024, comes after Spence’s guilty plea entered on November 16, 2022. Upon his release, Spence will face five years of supervised probation, marking the culmination of a legal process that has spanned over two years.
The case traces back to a tragic incident on November 3, 2020, when Charles County officers were dispatched to an apartment building on Amber Leaf Place following reports of a shooting. There, they discovered a 17-year-old victim with multiple gunshot wounds to his lower body. Despite being airlifted to Washington Hospital Center, the teenager succumbed to his injuries, leaving a community in mourning and sparking an investigation that would eventually lead to Spence and his co-defendant, Anthony Edward Small.
Witness accounts from the scene described an altercation between the victim and suspects in a bright blue passenger car, leading to gunfire. Small, identified as the shooter, was seen entering the front passenger seat of the vehicle, which Spence admitted to driving. In his statement to investigators, Spence disclosed that the meeting with the victim was supposedly for a marijuana purchase, which quickly escalated into a robbery and the subsequent fatal shooting by Small.
Further investigation into the incident revealed a fingerprint belonging to Small on the passenger side of Spence’s car. Phone records also placed Small in the vicinity at the time of the murder, and he was captured in photographs wearing attire that matched the description provided by Spence. A more incriminating piece of evidence was found on Small’s phone: photographs of him and the victim’s bloodied handgun, accompanied by a text message confession to his girlfriend about the murder.
During the sentencing, Judge Carrington Martin addressed Spence, highlighting the young age of the victim involved in drug activities, and reflecting on the loss of life that Spence, having outlived the victim, must now reckon with.
This sentencing comes on the heels of co-defendant Anthony Edward Small’s sentencing on February 16, 2024, where he received a life sentence with all but 50 years suspended, handed down by Judge H. James West. The case has drawn attention to the severe consequences of violent crime and the justice system’s response to such acts, underscoring the tragic loss of young life and the lasting impact on the community. As the legal proceedings come to a close, the sentences handed down serve as a somber reminder of the gravity of the actions leading to that fateful day in November 2020.
