After a two-day trial in Howard County Circuit Court, Dedrick Tyrone Wilkerson was found guilty of second-degree rape, second-degree assault and false imprisonment, according to state’s attorney spokesman Wayne Kirwan. Wilkerson was acquitted of first-degree rape, first-degree assault and reckless endangerment charges. The jury deliberated for two-and-a-half hours before returning the verdict Thursday afternoon, Kirwan said.
Wilkerson was charged with approaching a woman at the Wilde Lake Village Center, where she was using the ATM at the Columbia bank. He continued to talk with her as she walked behind the tennis courts at Wilde Lake High School, where he was alleged to have grabbed her and raped her, according to charging documents.
Police obtained surveillance video footage from the Columbia Bank, from which they were able to identify Wilkerson, according to charging documents.
Public defender Mary Pizzo, who represented Wilkerson, could not be reached for comment.
Wilkerson faces up to 20 years on the rape conviction, Kirwan said. Judge Diane Leasure scheduled sentencing for Jan. 8.
user comments (1)
user eliahu says...
I sat in the courthouse and listened to how this thug lied repeatedly at each juncture as the case developed.
It turns out that he was on house detention restrictions prior to the rape and he violated that home restriction on the night of the rape.
He also lied about making contact with her or of ever speaking to her or of knowing anything about her directly or indirectly, but he was caught approaching and engaging her in conversation by the Bank's ATM camera as she made her cash transaction.
Then this fellow lied about having had sex with her (consensual or otherwise) but the semen samples which were taken from the woman at HCGH and from this fellow were a match!
This thug then lied about choking and physically abusing the victim but the victim did show trauma to her neck and other areas of her body but the photos did not do those injuries justice at least as they were minimized as worthy of note, ... yet her injuries which have included psychological trauma have provoked suicidal ideation and the acting on those suicidal impulses, as of that rape event one year ago.
I hope the sentencing of this individual includes adequate restitution for the victim and that he is not released in just a few years, for his stellar penitentiary behavior.
Posted 6:31 PM, 10.14.08
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