Road Rage Crash That Killed Silver Spring Man Earns Prison Time

BOWIE, MD — An armed driver’s case of road rage that killed a Silver Spring man who hoped to become a social worker will send the driver to prison for five years, authorities said.

A federal jury convicted Anthony Lamont Payne, 27, of District Heights, on Jan. 19 for involuntary manslaughter in connection with a fatal car crash. The wreck occurred on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway on March 20, 2015.

On Monday, a federal prison judge sentenced Payne to five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release in the case.

Payne threatened the victim -- Terrance Terrelle Lagrue, 19, of Silver Spring -- with a gun, then chased his car on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway at speeds of up to 115 miles per hour, said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. Lagrue was a student at Bowie State University.

According to evidence presented at the trial, Payne caused Lagrue’s on March 20, 2015, following a high-speed chase on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in Prince George’s County. Two eyewitnesses testified that Payne pointed a gun at the victim both before and during the chase.

According to trial testimony, Lagrue’s car was hit by Payne’s vehicle, causing the victim’s vehicle to roll over and burst into flame. Scientific evidence presented at trial from the airbag module in Payne’s vehicle showed he was driving 115 miles per hour at the time of the collision.

Lagrue died at the scene.

“The evidence proved that Anthony Lamont Payne threatened the victim with a gun, then chased his car on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway at speeds of up to 115 miles per hour,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein in a news release. “Payne’s atrocious criminal conduct caused the tragic death of Terrance Terrelle Lagrue.”