HoCo Judge Sentences Woman to 7 Years for Kidnapping Teen

A Reisterstown woman was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison for her role in the execution-style shooting of a 15-year-old boy two summers ago. The victim survived and was in court for the sentencing with his family, according to a report from the state’s attorney’s office.

Laura Christian Karr, 26, of the 400 block of Highmeadow Road in Reisterstown, was sentenced to 15 years in jail with eight years suspended for kidnapping. She pleaded guilty to kidnapping in the incident on June 19, 2012; the state did not prosecute charges of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, armed robbery and using a firearm to commit a violent crime.

Karr and her boyfriend—Donald George Peoples Jr., 23, of the 400 block of HIghmeadow Road—abducted the victim, who was 15 years old at the time, from a sidewalk near his Reisterstown home, mistaking him for someone who had swindled them out of $200 in a marijuana deal, according to the report from the state’s attorney’s office.

They forced the victim into Karr’s 2012 Mazda, then drove to get a third person, who brought a long-barrel rifle and told the 15-year-old that he was going to die, according to reports.

After a drive from Reisterstown to Howard County, the victim was ordered out of the car at gunpoint in a field off Old Frederick Road in Marriottsville, and as he walked away, Peoples shot him in the back of the head, police said.

At Karr’s sentencing, Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Furlong said: “She [Karr] was in a position to stop this from happening.”

The boy continues to suffer from nightmares and other damage, according to a prior report from the state’s attorney’s office, which said the victim has a bullet fragment still lodged near his brain stem.

Karr’s attorney said that the boy was not the only victim; Karr suffers from “battered woman syndrome” as a result of the domination and control Peoples exercised during their relationship. Peoples continues to threaten Karr and her family, according to the statement from the state’s attorney’s office.

Howard County Circuit Court Judge Richard Bernhardt sentenced Karr to seven years in jail, followed by five years of probation and 400 hours of community service with the House of Ruth or another domestic violence victim service provider, the report said.

“I don’t think you were capable of standing up to Donald Peoples, but that doesn’t absolve you of responsibility,” Bernhardt said Thursday.

Peoples was described as Karr’s boyfriend and the father of their child, according to the state’s attorney. Karr testified against him during his trial, helping to secure his sentence in May, which was life plus 85 years. The woman who brought the firearm into the car—Chiquita Sketer, 23, of Randallstown—was sentenced to 25 years in prison last summer.

The three individuals involved in the incident were arrested during a dramatic police operation that left a man dead at Karr’s home. The man, Ronald M. Cox, 48, swung a sword at Baltimore County police officers as they entered Karr’s home in August 2012. Police opened fire and killed Cox.

Related:

• Man Sentenced to Life Plus 85 Years in Marriottsville Execution-Style Shooting
• Woman Pleads Guilty to Involvement in Marriottsville Shooting
• Three Charged in June Shooting of 15-Year-Old
• Woman Sentenced in Attempted Murder of Teen in Marriottsville