Man pleads guilty to fatally stabbing woman at church
A Baltimore man of “borderline intellectual function” pleaded guilty Tuesday to fatally stabbing 69-year-old Evelyn Player at her East Baltimore church in November 2021.
Circuit Judge Martin H. Schreiber sentenced Manzie Smith Jr., 63, to life in prison with all but 50 years suspended, abiding by the punishment agreed to by the prosecution and defense.
Though Schreiber said the half-century of incarceration effectively amounted to a full life sentence given Smith’s age, the judge added five years of supervised probation in the event Smith is released. In Maryland, defendants convicted of crimes of violence are eligible for parole after serving half of their sentence.
“Smith’s actions as well as his [criminal] record would certainly justify a life sentence in this case, but given the defendant’s age” and that Player’s family wanted to avoid the trauma associated with trial, the prosecution negotiated the plea, Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Stock said in court.
Doctors with the Maryland Department of Health evaluated Smith twice before the case was resolved, diagnosing him with a personality disorder and opioid and alcohol use disorders as well as determining he had “borderline intellectual function,” Stock and Smith’s defense lawyer, Leslie Stein, told Schreiber on Tuesday.
Despite those conditions, the attorneys said, the psychologists and psychiatrists determined Smith could understand his court proceedings, leading another judge to rule that Smith was competent to stand trial.
Before he admitted to the crime, Smith withdrew his plea of not criminally responsible by reason of insanity. Stein said Dr. Sameer Patel, a health department psychiatrist who evaluated Smith, believed that Smith didn’t meet the criminal responsibility standard in Maryland: whether a defendant could or could not, because of a mental disorder, understand that what he was doing was wrong or stop himself from doing it.
In a statement released by his office Tuesday afternoon, Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates described Player’s killing as “deeply traumatic.”
“This plea allows the family to receive closure and process their grief, resulting in a lengthy sentence that will ensure this dangerous individual never returns to the streets of our city again,” Bates said.
Employees of the Southern Baptist Church in the 1700 block of North Chester Street found Player’s walking cane and other belongings at the front desk when they got to work Nov. 16, 2021, Stock said in court. After unlocking the door to a handicapped bathroom, the employees found Player “severely injured” on the floor. They called 911 around 7:17 a.m.
Medics pronounced Player dead around 7:30 a.m. An autopsy revealed 38 stab wounds and many more cuts, Stock said. A state medical examiner ruled her death a homicide by “sharp force injuries.”
After officers arrived, crime scene technicians processed the scene. Stock said forensic analysts tested several blood-stained pieces of evidence for DNA, yielding a mixture of Player’s biological matter and that of Smith, whose DNA was already in law enforcement databases because of his criminal history.
With the revelation, Stock said, detectives homed in on Smith.
Player had clocked into work at 6:03 a.m. Investigators found CCTV footage showing a man approaching the church at 6:03 a.m. and leaving the building by 6:29 a.m.
Stock said detectives believe Player let Smith into the building because she recognized him as a laborer who had done volunteer work for the church.
Two days after the stabbing, Smith presented his identification when he sold two old rings at a pawn shop, Stock said. Detectives showed pictures of the rings to Player’s family, who determined they were hers.
When police arrested Smith, they found he had wounds on his hands. Stock said the injuries were consistent with a struggle, as the medical examiner found Player suffered defensive wounds.
The killing shocked Player’s church community, who remembered her as a loving matriarch and dedicated volunteer with a witty sense of humor.
Player’s daughter, Alethea Finch, submitted a letter to the judge outlining the impact of Smith’s crime on her and her family.
She asked the judge not to read it aloud in court, and Schreiber obliged.
“I’m just glad that he will be behind bars and he won’t be able to hurt anyone else’s family like he did mine,” Finch said after court, before declining to comment further.
After her mother’s killing, Finch and others were left to wonder why anyone would hurt Player.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Schreiber pressed Stock and Stein about Smith’s mental health and ability to understand the consequences of pleading guilty.
Schreiber said the history of mental health evaluations in the case was “giving me some pause.”
“We didn’t have the ability to bring in our own expert witnesses,” Stein said.
“Why not?” the judge pressed.
“There were no funds,” Stein said. “I am doing this case almost pro bono.”
Outside court, Stein called the case “sad” but declined to comment further.
Court records show Smith was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in 2012, found incompetent to stand trial on robbery charges in 2012 and committed for treatment at the state’s Spring Grove Hospital Center. He eventually pleaded guilty to robbing a 64-year-old woman and got eight years in prison, completing his supervised probation in that case a month before killing Player. He was convicted of rape twice.
In court Tuesday, he answered Schreiber’s questions in a low, choppy voice — “Yeahhh” and “Nooo.”
Schreiber questioned him for about 15 minutes, seeking to ensure he understood the rights he was relinquishing.
Smith’s right hand shook when he raised his hand to be sworn in before answering.
When Schreiber asked how far he’d made it in school, Smith responded that he was in special education. He also testified that he’d been committed to mental hospitals several times in his 30s.
Given the opportunity for the last word in court, Smith’s voice was mostly unintelligible as he addressed Schreiber.
“I’m truly sorry,” Smith said. “Please forgive me.”