A man was sentenced Monday to spend 50 years in prison for the attempted robbery of a real estate agent on Charleston's West Side in 2013.
Jerry Wayne Smith, 40, of Charleston, previously pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree robbery after trying to rob an agent at Home Pro Realty at 415 Virginia St. W. in December 2013. In exchange for the guilty plea to the robbery charge, prosecutors dropped charges of malicious wounding and assault during the commission of a felony, according to Kanawha Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Gordon.
After loitering around the business for several days, Smith attacked the agency's owner, Elizabeth Whitley, according to Charleston police. Whitley gave an emotional statement in court Monday before Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit handed down Smith's sentence.
John Danford, Smith's attorney, had asked Tabit to consider sentencing Smith to spend time on home confinement and undergo substance abuse treatment. Gordon asked the judge to send Smith to prison for 50 years. The punishment for first-degree robbery doesn't include a sentencing limit.
"He just snapped. That was my argument," said Gordon. "What is going to keep him from doing that again?"
Whitley told police at the time that she had felt sorry for Smith. He had asked her for money on several occasions and had told her he was unemployed and dealing with the recent death of his mother.
The day of the incident, Smith went inside the agency offices and asked Whitley for money again, according to police. She told him she didn't have any money and offered him a cup of coffee.
Smith then became angry and allegedly struck Whitley in the face several times. He tried to pry the woman's rings from her hands and rip off a necklace she was wearing, according to police. When Whitley fought back, Smith allegedly choked her with the necklace.
Police said that Smith grabbed a screwdriver and stabbed Whitley several times under her chin. He also rummaged through her purse and wallet before fleeing.
Whitley still suffers from breathing problems because of the attack, Gordon said.
"She had let him into her life and her office and he took advantage of that," the prosecutor added.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.