'She's lucky to be alive': Judge gives max in stabbing, plus five years in hammer attack

A plea agreement called for Charles Derrick Watkins to serve a total of eight years in prison for stabbing of a woman and separately attacking a man with a hammer.

But after hearing about the severity of the victims' injuries and their ongoing struggles Friday, Washington County Circuit Court Judge Mark K. Boyer sentenced Watkins to 30 years.

"This was an egregious act," Boyer said. "She's lucky to be alive."

Watkins, 34, pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree assault in the Jan. 15, 2020, stabbing of Kristina Marie Moore-Brunner in the area of Jonathan and Church streets in Hagerstown. In exchange, attempted first-degree murder and other charges were dropped, court records show.

He also pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in the Jan. 1, 2020, hammer attack on Steven Andrew Lines at his home just west of Hagerstown. In exchange, first-degree assault and reckless endangerment charges in that case were dropped, court records show.

Moore-Brunner, listed in a charging document against Watkins as the mother of his child, was present in court but spoke through Victim/Witness Coordinator Jill Ritter, who read from notes she took during a conversation with Brunner earlier in the day.

"'He needs more than eight years,'" Ritter said, quoting Moore-Brunner. "'He is not well. He has the mentality of a serial killer. He needs the maximum.'"

Assistant State's Attorney Beverly Plutnick said Moore-Brunner was taken to Meritus Medical Center east of Hagerstown after being stabbed seven times, then was transferred to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where she was hospitalized for several months.

Moore-Brunner fears that Watkins will kill her. Her injuries included a collapsed lung, an abscess in her liver and the loss of her gall bladder and part of an intestine, Ritter said, reading from her notes.

"'He has destroyed me,'" Ritter said, quoting Brunner. "'I have nightmares and PTSD.'"

A witness told police she and Moore-Brunner were talking on the corner when a man ran up to Moore-Brunner, stabbed her with a pocket knife and then ran off into an alley, the charging document in that case states.

Moore-Brunner’s mother told investigators that her daughter had broken up with Watkins a week earlier, at which time he stabbed her in the right leg, the document states.

Moore-Brunner told her mother “she was afraid of Charles and did not want him to get arrested on his active warrants,” so she didn’t call police, according to the document.

The mother later told a detective that Watkins broke her daughter’s elbow earlier in the month. Not wanting to report that assault to police, Moore-Brunner went to Frederick, Md., to have it treated, the document states.

Earlier:Warrant served: Hagerstown woman shot another over money dispute, police say

More:Teen charged with attempted murder in shooting of acquaintance on Avalon Avenue

Plutnick acknowledged that Moore-Brunner was in a relationship with Watkins at the time of the earlier hammer attack.

"She was not proud of what she did that day," Plutnick said.

The charging document in that case states that Watkins and Moore-Brunner had been staying with Lines, who asked them to leave. It states that Lines said he believed Watkins retaliated by hitting him approximately twice in the head with the hammer and approximately three times on the left hand and wrist.

Lines told police that he believed Moore-Brunner was standing in the doorway to block his exit after the attack, and that he pushed her aside to escape, the document states.

Lines told Boyer that he's still feeling the effects of his injuries.

"I think you should give him the maximum you can give him," Lines said. "I've got permanent damage in my hand."

Watkins apologized before the sentence was handed down.

"I apologize for the inconvenience and circumstances that took place," he said. "I'm really sorry."

Defense attorney Stephen Musselman asked Boyer to abide by the plea agreement, which called for a combined sentence of 15 years for both cases with all but eight years suspended.

"There's a lot more going on," he said. 'The state settled the case for a reason."

Boyer imposed the maximum penalty of 25 years on the first-degree assault charge to be served consecutive to the five-year penalty he imposed on the second-degree assault charge. Second-degree assault carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.