Slain MD Judge's Wife Urges Lawmakers To Protect Judicial Officials

ANNAPOLIS, MD — The wife of slain Maryland Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson appeared before state lawmakers Wednesday and asked them to do more to protect judges after her husband was fatally shot outside his Hagerstown home in October 2023, according to a report.

Speaking to lawmakers, Stephanie Wilkinson said Pedro Argote searched online for her family’s address three months before he shot and killed her husband in front of their home after Wilkinson presided over Argote's divorce case, Maryland Matters reported.

"My family is the victim of an attack on a cornerstone of our country, our judicial process," Wilkinson told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, according to Maryland Matters. "If we do not step in and offer our judiciary the protection and the privacy they should have, we will surely water down the strength of the judicial system by getting less qualified candidates to fill those positions."

• RELATED: Pedro Argote, Accused Of Killing MD Judge, Found Dead: Police

Deputies found Wilkinson on Oct. 19, lying in the driveway of his home and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown, where he later died from his injuries.

Hours before the shooting, Wilkinson issued a judgment against Argote, officially granting the divorce and awarding sole custody of the couple’s four minor children to their mother, court records show. He ordered Argote to have no contact with the children and pay $1,120 a month in child support.

Authorities were unable to locate Argote immediately after the shooting. Argote's car was discovered two days later in Williamsport, a town near the Maryland-West Virginia border, and his body was found in a heavily wooded area near Williamsport on Oct. 26.

While addressing lawmakers, Stephanie Wilkinson expressed support for Senate Bill 575 and House Bill 664, both named for her husband.

The bills would allow a "protected individual" or the Office of Information Privacy in the Administrative Office of the Courts to request that a governmental entity or person not publish personal information on the internet, social media, or “social networks,” or remove the information from any existing publication.

A "protected individual" includes current or retired judges.