ANNAPOLIS, Md. — An Anne Arundel County jury on November 20, 2025, convicted Timothy Lee Styles, 57, of Annapolis, of first-degree assault, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and false imprisonment stemming from a violent domestic incident at a Bates Street residence on April 11, 2025.
Circuit Court Judge Robert Thompson set sentencing for December 3, 2025. First-degree assault in Maryland carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison when a deadly weapon is used with intent to cause serious physical injury. Second-degree assault allows up to 10 years, while reckless endangerment and false imprisonment each carry maximum terms of five years.
State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess issued a statement after the verdict, describing the escalation that began as a verbal dispute between Styles and his former girlfriend.
“This was a verbal argument that turned increasingly violent against the victim as she attempted to flee to safety,” Leitess said. “The Defendant threatened to kill the victim, held a knife to her neck, and strangled her to a point that she could not breathe. I am grateful to the jury, who heard the facts and agreed to the seriousness of this domestic attack.”
Annapolis Police Department officers responded shortly after 10 p.m. on April 11 to the single-family home in the 1100 block of Bates Street, a residential street near the Eastport neighborhood and Spa Creek. The victim, whose identity is protected under Maryland law in domestic violence cases, told arriving officers that Styles had refused to let her leave the residence, threatened her life, placed a kitchen knife against her neck, and choked her until she lost the ability to breathe.
Trial testimony revealed that Styles cut the victim’s neck and arm during the struggle. Paramedics transported her to Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center, where medical staff treated lacerations and documented petechial hemorrhaging consistent with strangulation. Photographs of the injuries and the blood-stained knife recovered from the scene were entered as exhibits.
Assistant State’s Attorney Isabelle Ferraro prosecuted the case, presenting the victim’s direct testimony along with recordings of her 911 call placed after she escaped the home. The jury deliberated approximately three hours before returning guilty verdicts on all four counts.
Styles has remained held without bond at the Jennifer Road Detention Center since his arrest the night of the incident. Anne Arundel County District Court records show prior protective orders involving the same victim dating back to 2023.
Maryland law treats first-degree assault with a deadly weapon as a felony of violence, making any sentence non-suspendable for the first five years if the maximum is imposed. Judges in domestic cases routinely consider the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence risk-assessment tool and victim impact statements when determining length and conditions of incarceration.
Sentencing on December 3 will occur before Judge Thompson in Courtroom 3 of the Anne Arundel County Circuit Courthouse on Church Circle. The Division of Parole and Probation is preparing a presentence report that will include the victim’s statement and Styles’ criminal history.
