Nineteen-year-old Cinthya Proctor pleaded guilty this morning to participating in the killing of Latisha Frazier last August.
According to the details of the plea agreement, Proctor could be sentenced to life in prison.
Proctor is, at this time, the only defendant to plead guilty to the crime. Anneka Nelson, Johnnie Sweet, Brian Gaither and Laurence Hassan have also been arrested in connection with the case. Their cases are pending indictment at this time.
Appearing in court Friday morning, Proctor pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to tamper with evidence in the case.
According to government prosecutors, Proctor proffered that she joined others in beating Frazier because they believed Frazier had stolen $900 from Sweet.
Frazier, an 18-year-old mother, was beaten, stomped, bound, taped, gagged, prodded and choked, according to the government’s evidence. Her head was covered with a sheet. She was tossed into a closet. When she finally died, her body was moved from room to room while her killers discussed how to dispose of her. They decided to dismember her, but her killers could not bring themselves to complete the job because of the stench of her flesh, or, as prosecutors said Friday, their knife was not sharp enough.
Proctor answered each of Judge William Jackson’s questions with “yes your honor” or “no your honor,” and hung her head while prosecutors outlined the case they would have made against her if the case had gone to trial.
Judge Jackson said the maximum penalty for second-degree murder is life in prison.
According to the terms of the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed not to indict Proctor on any further charges relating to the case, to waive all enhancements, that the District of Columbia Sentencing Commission’s Voluntary Sentencing Guidelines will be used, and that the government will not oppose concurrent sentences for the three charges.
The maximum penalty for second-degree murder is life in prison, Judge Jackson said, adding that the maximum penalties for kidnapping and conspiracy were 30 years and 3 years, respectively.
Proctor was 18-years-old and had just started college when she was arrested. Her attorney added that she was six months pregnant when the crime occurred.
A press release from the USAO is below.
District Woman Pleads Guilty to Murder, Other Charges In Killing of 19-Year-Old Latisha Frazier- Defendant Later Joined in Plot to Dispose of the Victim’s Body -
WASHINGTON - Cinthya Proctor, 18, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to second degree murder and other charges in the killing of another teenager last year, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.
Proctor pled guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to charges of second degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit evidence tampering. She is to be sentenced November 4, 2011 by the Honorable William M. Jackson. Proctor faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
According to a statement of facts signed by the defendant and submitted to the Court, Proctor was among a group of people who took part in the August 2010 murder of Latisha Frazier, 19.
On August 1, 2010, Proctor and others decided that they would invite Ms. Frazier to an apartment in the 1700 block of Trenton Place SE to “teach her a lesson” because they suspected she had stolen $900 from one of them. During a discussion, they developed a plan that called for Proctor to join in beating the victim in a back bedroom.
The next day, the group gathered at the residence to carry out the plan. Ms. Frazier, as planned, was invited to the residence and went to the back bedroom. There Proctor and two other women hit her with their fists. Ms. Frazier cried for them to stop, and they ultimately did. However, two men who were part of the group then stepped in and punched and kicked the victim. Afterward, the group decided to bind Ms. Frazier with tape and put her in a closet. At that time, Ms. Frazier was still alive, and crying. Later that day, however, someone checked on her and reported to the group that the victim was dead.
Upon learning that Ms. Frazier had died, Proctor took part in a discussion about what to do with her body. The initial plan to was dismember the body, put it in a container and dispose of it in a park. The next day, Proctor joined in an attempt to dismember the body in a bathtub. But she became physically ill and went to a hospital before the body was removed from the apartment.
Ms. Frazier’s body has yet to be found. Proctor is among a number of people arrested in this case and has been in custody since February.
In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Machen praised the work of those who investigated the case for the Metropolitan Police Department, including Detectives Jeff Owens, Oliver Garvey, Darryl Richmond, Mitch Credle, Anthony Brigidini, Kenneth Williams, Susan Blue and Jeff Mayberry of the Major Case/Cold Case Squad. He also expressed appreciation for the efforts of those who handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Larry Grasso of the Criminal Intelligence Unit, Victim/Witness Advocate Marcia Rinker, and Paralegal Kwasi Fields. Finally, he thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh, who is prosecuting the case.
