A Maryland woman was sentenced Friday to 18 months in jail for her involvement in driving her son away from the scene of a fatal shooting last July.
Talbot Circuit Judge Broughton M. Earnest handed down two concurrently served five-year sentences and suspended all but 18 months of the term for 42-year-old Charlene Morton who pleaded guilty in February to being an accessory after the fact of first-degree murder in connection to the shooting death of 41-year-old George Barney III.
Morton also pleaded guilty to a firearm possession charge, which was not related to the murder.
Earnest gave Morton credit for time served since her initial incarceration in the county detention center in late July, almost nine months ago, making her total sentence about nine more months.
The charges against Morton stemmed from her actions following the fatal shooting, which occurred in the front yard of a home in the 100 block of Prospect Avenue in Easton just before 6:30 p.m. on July 3.
Morton’s son, 21-year-old Jalyn Barney, was convicted of first-degree murder for shooting George, his uncle. He was sentenced in early April to life in prison with all but 40 years suspended.
Prior to the shooting, Jalyn had called George shortly before 5 p.m., asking him to pick him up from a house in Dorchester County and bring him back to his home on Prospect Avenue in Easton. The phone conversation between the two men was heated, with George telling Jalyn they would “fight it out like men” and Jalyn telling George he would kill and shoot him.
Jalyn then called Morton and asked her to bring him to Easton. As the mother and son were driving to Easton, George’s mother called Morton in an attempt to prevent Jalyn from coming to the home on Prospect Avenue.
When two arrived at the Prospect Avenue home, Jalyn got out of Morton’s SUV with his belongings. As family members came outside, George and Jalyn began physically fighting.
George’s wife and mother, along with Morton, tried to break up the fight and were able to separate the two men. Jalyn then reached into a bag, pulling out a gun. George’s wife would have testified that Morton said “no, no, no,” as Jalyn reached into the bag, pulling out a gun, Coale said during February’s plea hearing.
Morton wrapped Jalyn into a “bear hug” so he couldn’t raise the gun, and family members were able to help push Jalyn into the backseat of Morton’s SUV. The gun was still in his hands.
Morton ran around to the driver’s seat to leave, but as she pulled away, witnesses heard a “pop” and saw George fall to the ground. Investigators later learned that Jalyn had fired one round out of the rear passenger window of Morton’s car, striking George in the right temple.
Responding police officers and EMS personnel attempted lifesaving measures on Barney, who was taken to the University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton. He died from his injuries shortly after 7 p.m.
Morton continued driving away from the scene and dropped Jalyn off at Idlewild Park before returning to St. Michaels that evening. In February’s plea hearing, Coale said a juvenile witness in the car with Jalyn and Morton that evening said that while driving to the park, Morton told her son to get rid of the gun.
After being dropped off at the park, Jalyn fled from the Easton area. He was located nearly two weeks later in Baltimore.
Police spoke with Morton later that evening, and learned through further investigation that the statements she provided were not true. Police also searched Morton’s home and found an operable handgun, which she was prohibited from possessing due to decades-old convictions.
The gun found in Morton’s home was not related to the murder.
At Friday’s sentencing, Talbot County State’s Attorney Joseph Coale asked for two 10-year sentences to be served concurrently. The sentencing guidelines recommended six months to five years of incarceration for each offense, Coale said.
Coale said he felt a 10-year term was appropriate, adding that Morton had put the public at a grave risk of danger by allowing Jalyn, someone she knew had shot another person, back on the street.
Defense attorney Peter O’Neill didn’t dispute much of what the prosecutor said, but added clarification on Morton’s level of involvement in the incident.
He emphasized that Morton was not part of the conversations between Jalyn and George; she was just driving her son back to Easton. It was also undisputed that Morton’s intention was to leave.
And when Jalyn and George were fighting at the house in Easton, Morton was also an “integral part” in separating the two men, O’Neill said. It was “clearly” Morton’s intent was to get Jalyn away from the heated situation.
O’Neill also pointed out that Morton was driving the car away from the house when Jalyn fired the gun, saying he was not sure her conduct in trying to drive away from the scene was inappropriate, considering the circumstances of the physical fight.
In terms of sentencing, O’Neill asked the court to consider a time served sentence for Morton, who has two minor children at home. The nearly nine months she already served was within the recommended guidelines.
If the judge wasn’t amenable to that, a local sentence in the Talbot County Detention Center or home detention was preferred, he said.
He asked the court to consider nearly a dozen letters submitted attesting to Morton’s character, along with statements made in court from eight of Morton’s family members and friends. He also spoke about Morton’s active participation in “Understanding Dad for Moms,” a National Fatherhood Initiative curriculum hosted for moms in the Talbot County Detention Center, which discusses the different roles fathers and mothers play in the family.
Character statements made to the judge in the packed courtroom primarily centered on Morton’s positivity, kindness, hardworking nature and willingness to help others.
Morton also addressed the courtroom, apologizing for what had happened to George, who she’d known as a brother for 25 years.
For months, Morton had prayed for strength and healing for the broken family, she said, adding that she hoped for continued comfort and strength to heal for George’s family.
Morton reflected on her past struggles, saying she had worked to choose a better way of life for herself and her children. She was finally approaching a life she had dreamed of until the fatal shooting last July.
She also spoke briefly on the pain she’d felt in the amount of time since she’d tried to break up the fatal altercation between two people she loved dearly.
“I lost them both,” she said of George and Jalyn.
Prior to handing down the sentence, the judge said his heart went out to George’s family, adding that the incident occurring between family members made the situation even more tragic.
He emphasized that Morton was not accused of participating in the killing, considering the gun was fired after she was already driving away.
Earnest also said there was no evidence Morton armed Jalyn or that she knew he was armed. He said it seemed that once the fist fight began, Morton was trying to help break the two men apart.
The biggest mistake Morton made was telling Jalyn to get rid of the gun and letting him out of the car, Earnest said, adding that Morton didn’t encourage him to turn himself in.
However, Earnest also noted that Morton was leading a respectable life and had good qualities, and many had good things to say about her, leading him to hand down the lighter period of active incarceration.
Following her release, Morton will be placed on three years of supervised probation. She is not allowed to contact George’s wife and will be responsible for paying restitution of $1,711 jointly and severally with Jalyn.
Family members and friends waved and said “We love you” to Morton as she walked out of the courtroom.
After the hearing, O’Neill said the judge was fair in his considerations and had listened carefully to the facts and testimony from family and friends to hand down a “reasonable and appropriate” sentence. Coale declined to comment.
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