WALDORF, Md. — Editor's Note: The video above was published on May 11, 2022.
A Maryland man will spend the rest of his life in prison for the 2020 murder of a 7-Eleven clerk in Waldorf.
The deadly encounter happened on October 1, 2020, when Gregory Deshawn Collins, 23, walked into the convenience store on Middletown Road, grabbed a bottle of tea and went to the counter where Lynn Marie Maher, 49, was working.
Collins then took out a handgun and told Maher to hand over all the money in the register. After handing over the cash, Collins shot Maher in the head, killing her.
After shooting Maher, Collins grabbed the money and ran away with a total of $249.69.
Police identified Collins using surveillance video and he confessed to robbing the store and shooting Maher. He was later convicted by a jury on multiple charges, including first-degree murder.
Collins was found guilty on May 11.
In a release on Tuesday, the Assistant State’s Attorney announced Collins has been sentenced to life without parole plus 20 years in prison for the First-Degree Felony Murder of Lynn Maher, Armed Robbery, and other related charges.
“We do not ask for life without parole often and certainly not lightly," said the Assistant State’s Attorney for the case. "The facts of this case absolutely warrant it. The defendant was on probation when he committed this senseless, horrific murder.”.
The State's Attorney Tony Covington said the sentence was appropriate, explaining that Collins permanently erased a life from this earth.
"In my view, when you take someone’s life as this defendant did, you should forfeit your right to live the rest of your life as a free man," said Covington. "So, the sentence was fair and reasonable.”
According to her family, Maher was a mother of three and stepmother to a fourth, who was regarded as a friendly fixture that made the convenience store a community gathering place. Originally from Germantown, Maher was a second-degree black belt in taekwondo who volunteered to teach kids who couldn’t afford lessons self-defense, her family said.
Lynn's husband Travis Maher said he spoke with Collins's family after the verdict in May and offered prayers and forgiveness, a step towards healing.
"We have a wife, a mom, daughter, that is not with us anymore, but then there's also a son that won't be able to be around for their family for some time to come," Travis Maher said. "So we both gave each other prayers and each other forgiveness so that we can kind of move on and kind of go on with life and heal.”