MURDER USA – Major Crimes court cases: Joshua Mebane sentenced to two life terms for the murder of Teresa Bass and attempted murder of Jerry Bass – shot at random as they walked their dog
Joshua Terrell Mebane
—Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Tuesday, December 20, 2016, Joshua Terrell Mebane, 22, of 6101 Pooka Court, Waldorf, Md., and now of the Division of Corrections in Jessup, Md., entered a guilty plea in front of Charles County Circuit Court Judge Amy J. Bragunier to First Degree Murder of Teresa Bass, Attempted Murder of Jerry Bass Jr., and Unlawful use of a Hand Gun in the Commission of a Crime of Violence Related to the First-Degree Murder of Teresa Bass.
“Although it took years of waiting, Teresa and Jerry’s families finally saw justice done today. Given Mebane’s crimes and total lack of remorse, this young man should never walk the earth again as a free man. That may sound harsh but – in this case – it is just.” State’s Attorney Covington
Mebane was sentenced to 45 years in Federal Slammer for shooting cab driver in the back of his head
WASHINGTON – Joshua Mebane, 20, of Waldorf, Md., was sentenced today to 45 years in prison for the November 2012 killing of a taxicab driver in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.
Mebane was found guilty by a jury in September 2015, following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, of first-degree murder while armed and nine other charges, including conspiracy, assault with intent to commit robbery while armed, and firearms offenses. He was sentenced by the Honorable Jennifer Anderson.
A co-defendant, Linda Bury, also 20, earlier pled guilty to charges of second-degree murder while armed and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. She is awaiting sentencing.
According to the government’s evidence, Mebane and Bury, both 17 years old at the time, met online in October of 2012. Dissatisfied with their respective home environments, they made a plan to run away together. On Nov. 1, 2012, Mebane took a taxi from his family home in Waldorf, Md., to Bury’s family home in Parkton, Md. They then took a cab into the District of Columbia, and they stayed at a motel in Northeast Washington from Nov. 2 to Nov. 7, 2012.
In light of a dwindling money supply, Mebane and Bury devised a plan to commit a robbery of a taxicab driver on the evening of Nov. 7, 2012. A few minutes before 9 p.m., they randomly hailed a taxicab and instructed the driver, Muhammad Quadeer, to drive them to the rear of Hamilton Junior High School in the 1400 block of Brentwood Parkway NE. Once in the rear of the building, Mebane put on a black latex glove, pulled a 9mm pistol from a nylon bag, and fatally shot Mr. Quadeer, 44, once to the back of his head.
Charges in DC for the murder of a cab driver
In 2012, Mebane was charged with the first-degree murder of Teresa Bass and the Attempted Murder of her husband Jerry Bass Jr. as the couple walked their dog in the Hampshire neighborhood of Waldorf.
In 2012, Mebane was charged with the first-degree murder of Teresa Bass and the Attempted Murder of her husband, Jerry Bass Jr., as the couple walked their dog in the Hampshire neighborhood of Waldorf. Officers working security at the Westlake football game that night heard several gunshots and were on the scene within a minute. Teresa Bass was taken by ambulance to Civista Medical Center in La Plata, where she died. Jerry Bass Jr. was flown to an area hospital, where he was at one point listed in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds to his back.
Mebane was developed as a suspect in the Bass shootings during the investigation of the murder of cab driver Quadar Muhammad, 44, in Washington DC on November 7, 2012.
During that investigation, Mebane was identified as the shooter of Mr. and Mrs. Bass less than two weeks before the murder of Mr. Muhammad. Mebane was arrested, charged and convicted of killing Mr. Muhammad.
In November of 2015, Mebane was sentenced to 45 years in prison for that killing. Mebane was housed in the District of Columbia while awaiting trial from 2012 until late last year when he was sent to a federal penitentiary to serve his sentence. Finally, he was transported from that federal facility to Charles County.
On January 6, 2017, Mebane was sentenced in Charles County Circuit Court to two life terms in prison with 105 days credit given for time served.
VICTIM OF KILLER MEBANE WAS MOTHER OF FOUR & A NURSE
Teresa “Terry” Ann Bass was born on October 28, 1971, in Brooklyn, New York to Cesareo Mendez and Maria Mendez (deceased). Terry was educated in the Staten Island School System and graduated from Curtis High School. Upon graduation, she attended Farmingdale College in Long Island, New York with a major in nursing. Terry also lived in Middletown where she worked as a nurse at the Arnold Walter Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Holmdel. On November 26, 2011, Terry united in holy matrimony with Jerry L. Bass, Jr. in Waldorf, Maryland. She later found a job as a nurse at the Genesis Health Care Center in LaPlata, Maryland doing what she loved…helping and caring for others. Terry was known for her sense of humor. She loved to laugh and she loved to see others experience the joy that she had in her life. She also loved to exercise and dance and enjoyed listening to various types of music. Terry Bass’s family set up a Facebook page after she was murdered by Mebane.
Terry loved her husband dearly and was a wonderful mother to her children. As much as she loved her family, she loved God even more. After accepting Jesus Christ into her heart, she was baptized and became a disciple of Living Water Ministries of Waldorf in November 2011. Terry worked in the Kinder-church Ministry and helped out in other ministries when she was available to do so. — from Briscoe-Tonic Funeral Home
In the Washington, D.C. murder, Mebane and his girlfriend, who tipped police about her killer boyfriend, were hanging out in a Motel 6 in the District when Mebane told her that since they were low on cash, that “someone is going to get it.” The pair went to the Greyhound Bus Station in D.C. and hailed a cab. They asked to be taken to a school near the Motel 6. Mebane asked the cab driver the cost of the fare and the driver, Quadar Muhammad, told them the fare would be $6.50. Mebane asked the driver if he could break a fifty-dollar bill and the Muhammad responded that he could, according to charging documents filed in Washington Superior Court. At that point, the witness told police that Mebane, who was sitting directly behind the driver reached into a bag and pulled out a handgun which he fired directly into the back of the head of the driver. The cab, a Lincoln town car, suddenly accelerated, went over an embankment and crashed into a tree. The District Police arrived to find the cab ablaze, a dead boy inside, later identified as Muhammed, who the District coroner found had been shot in the head. The woman told police she had been in a relationship with Mebane and met him daily in the days leading up to the murder. Many of those meetings were at his house in Waldorf, Md.
Glen Wade,
Wade, of 10506 Beechwood Drive, Waldorf, Md. PENDING TRIAL – Indicted on May 20, 2016, on sixteen counts of attempted first-degree murder, use of a firearm in a violent crime, and assault for shooting a person during a drug deal in Waldorf. Motions have been filed by the defense on 9/13/16 to move the criminal trial of the 17-year-old to Juvenile Court; on 12/5/16 by the prosecution to use DNA evidence. The trial has been delayed.
Kelvin Wayne Harris
– PLEA DEAL – Sentencing hearing set for Jan. 19, 2017, Indictments five counts of first-degree assault, second-degree assault, conspiracy to commit murder and armed robbery, malicious property destruction on May 20, 2016.
Christopher Lee Godfrey
– PLEA DEAL – pleaded guilty on 11//21/16 to email harassment; 1 year suspended, no fine.
Edward Eugene Coates
– Coates, of 5755 Empire Place, Marbury, Md., and now of Division of Corrections, Jessup, Md., Guilty of first-degree rape, had violated probation on a third-degree sex offense. On Oct. 12, 2016, entered an Alford Plea with a disposition of Guilty on Oct. 17, 2016. Sentenced to 35 years in prison with no time suspended. A motion to modify or reduce sentence was filed on Dec. 1, 2016.
Rena Cassandra Crandell
– Charles County Sheriff’s detectives arrested Rena Cassandra Crandell, 23, of Halethorpe, MD, and Reigel Paul Wamack, 23, of Fairfax, VA, for a homicide that occurred in January. On Jan. 12, two men entered a house at Terrace Drive in Waldorf. They displayed guns, demanded money and then shot and killed a resident, Michael Keith Beers, 34; his acquaintance, a 32-year-old male, was able to escape by jumping out a window. A female, who was inside the house during the home invasion, fled. Detectives pursued leads and subsequently identified the female as Crandell and later determined she conspired with the suspects to rob the victims. She was arrested on April 10 in Baltimore. Detectives also identified one of the gunmen as Wamack. He was arrested on April 14 at 7 a.m. at his residence in Fairfax, VA.
Beers had formerly lived in Baltimore where he was charged with three counts of distribution of drugs on July 22, 2002. All counts were dropped by the Baltimore County States Attorney on Oct. 24, 2002. Beers was indicted by the Baltimore County Grand Jury on six counts of distribution of drugs on Dec. 6, 1999. All counts were dropped on March 27, 2000.
Both Crandell and Wamack were charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, and robbery. Crandell is being held at the Charles County Detention Center with no bond, and Wamack was held in Fairfax pending extradition to Charles County.
Crandell was charged by indictments on April 25, 2016, with first-degree murder, use of a firearm in a violent crime, theft, home invasion, burglary, with a total of 24 counts of various crimes which occurred on Jan. 12, 2016, in Charles County, Md. Defense attorney Gerald J. Riviello. The trial before Charles County Circuit Court Judge West was set for Oct. 31, 2016, and delayed. Supplemental discovery motions were filed on Dec. 27, 2016.
Reigel Paul Wamack
– Wamack, of 4027 Goss Road, Fairfax, Va., is represented by Michael F. Lawlor and Nicholas G. Madiou, both of Greenbelt, Md., Wamack was indicted by the Charles County Grand Jury on April 22, 2016, with twenty-one counts of first and second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, home invasion, robbery, burglary, assault and use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime. A trial in Charles County Circuit Court had been scheduled for Oct. 31, 2016, and was postponed until Feb. 3, 2017.
Mebane was charged with the first-degree murder of Teresa Bass and the Attempted Murder of her husband Jerry Bass Jr. as the couple walked their dog in the Hampshire neighborhood of Waldorf.
