Delaware News

Last Defendant Sentenced For Role in Carjacking, Kidnapping of Elderly Sussex Woman in 2013

Criminal Division | Department of Justice | Department of Justice Press Releases | News | Date Posted: Friday, December 19, 2014



Four defendants receive significant prison sentences for keeping victim locked in car trunk for two days and then abandoning her in a cemetery

 

GEORGETOWN — A Sussex County Superior Court judge on Friday sentenced Phillip Brewer, 18, to spend the next 12 years in prison, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden announced. Brewer had previously pled guilty to second-degree carjacking, three counts of kidnapping and four counts of second-degree conspiracy for his role in the March 2013 carjacking and kidnapping of an 89-year-old Sussex County woman, Margaret E. Smith.

 

As part of his plea agreement with the Department of Justice, Brewer cooperated in the prosecution of the three other defendants, and the significant cooperation was reflected in his sentence. He received seven years in prison for his role in the carjacking and kidnapping and another five years for a previous parole violation.

 

The three other defendants have all pled guilty or been convicted at trial and have all received sentences of at least 16 years behind bars.

 

“The length and severity of these sentences show how seriously we take violent crimes committed against senior citizens,” Biden said. “These prison terms will keep these individuals off the streets and out of Delaware’s neighborhoods for a long time. I want to thank Deputy Attorneys General Melanie Withers and Casey Ewart for their hard work and dedication on these prosecutions.”

 

On March 18, 2013 Jackeline Perez, and her friend, Junia McDonald, 16, first asked Smith for a ride from a Milford convenience store to a home in Lincoln. After arriving at the home, Smith was forced to turn over her car keys and then forced into the trunk of her car. Perez and McDonald then drove to pick up other friends – Brewer and Rondaiges Harper – with Smith locked in the trunk of the car.  Smith spent two days trapped in the trunk of her car before being released at a cemetery near Seaford.

Phillip Brewer Booking Image

The other defendants’ sentences are:  

 

·         Jackeline Perez, 17, was sentenced last week to 16 years in prison after previously pleading guilty to first-degree carjacking, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree conspiracy;

·         Junia McDonald, 16, who was sentenced Sept. 12 to 16 years in prison followed by nine years of home confinement and probation. She had pled guilty to first-degree carjacking, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree conspiracy.

·         Rondaiges Harper, 19, was convicted by a jury in June on first-degree kidnapping, first-degree carjacking and conspiracy charges. He was sentenced July 25 to 30 years in prison.

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Last Defendant Sentenced For Role in Carjacking, Kidnapping of Elderly Sussex Woman in 2013

Criminal Division | Department of Justice | Department of Justice Press Releases | News | Date Posted: Friday, December 19, 2014



Four defendants receive significant prison sentences for keeping victim locked in car trunk for two days and then abandoning her in a cemetery

 

GEORGETOWN — A Sussex County Superior Court judge on Friday sentenced Phillip Brewer, 18, to spend the next 12 years in prison, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden announced. Brewer had previously pled guilty to second-degree carjacking, three counts of kidnapping and four counts of second-degree conspiracy for his role in the March 2013 carjacking and kidnapping of an 89-year-old Sussex County woman, Margaret E. Smith.

 

As part of his plea agreement with the Department of Justice, Brewer cooperated in the prosecution of the three other defendants, and the significant cooperation was reflected in his sentence. He received seven years in prison for his role in the carjacking and kidnapping and another five years for a previous parole violation.

 

The three other defendants have all pled guilty or been convicted at trial and have all received sentences of at least 16 years behind bars.

 

“The length and severity of these sentences show how seriously we take violent crimes committed against senior citizens,” Biden said. “These prison terms will keep these individuals off the streets and out of Delaware’s neighborhoods for a long time. I want to thank Deputy Attorneys General Melanie Withers and Casey Ewart for their hard work and dedication on these prosecutions.”

 

On March 18, 2013 Jackeline Perez, and her friend, Junia McDonald, 16, first asked Smith for a ride from a Milford convenience store to a home in Lincoln. After arriving at the home, Smith was forced to turn over her car keys and then forced into the trunk of her car. Perez and McDonald then drove to pick up other friends – Brewer and Rondaiges Harper – with Smith locked in the trunk of the car.  Smith spent two days trapped in the trunk of her car before being released at a cemetery near Seaford.

Phillip Brewer Booking Image

The other defendants’ sentences are:  

 

·         Jackeline Perez, 17, was sentenced last week to 16 years in prison after previously pleading guilty to first-degree carjacking, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree conspiracy;

·         Junia McDonald, 16, who was sentenced Sept. 12 to 16 years in prison followed by nine years of home confinement and probation. She had pled guilty to first-degree carjacking, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree conspiracy.

·         Rondaiges Harper, 19, was convicted by a jury in June on first-degree kidnapping, first-degree carjacking and conspiracy charges. He was sentenced July 25 to 30 years in prison.

image_printPrint

Related Topics:  ,


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.