St. Mary's Co. Man Sentenced to Life Plus 20 Years in Prison for First-Degree Murder of Stepdad

Editor · 2025-04-02T19:20:15-0400

LEONARDTOWN (April 1, 2025) – State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling announced that Marvin Orlando Johnson, 39, of Mechanicville, Maryland, was sentenced to Life, plus an additional 20 years in prison, for the premeditated murder of his stepfather on May 24, 2023

Following a four-day jury trial in July 2024, a St. Mary’s County jury found Johnson guilty of first-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence for shooting and killing his stepfather.

On May 24, 2023, deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence on Three Notch Road in Mechanicsville for a report of a male victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. The victim was pronounced deceased by responding deputies who observed injuries consistent with the victim having been shot in the head with a shotgun.

The State requested the Court to impose the maximum sentence of Life plus 20 years in prison. The Defense requested the Court to deviate from the sentencing guidelines and recommended a sentence below the sentencing guidelines, which was Life to Life.

The Court carefully listened to arguments presented by both the State and the Defense and ultimately sentenced the Defendant to the maximum sentence of Life plus 20 years, as follows:

First-degree murder: Life in prison;
Use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime: 20 years in prison, to run consecutive to the first-degree murder charge.

Special Assistant State’s Attorney Jeff Maylor, Team Captain, Gun Violence Enforcement Division of the Baltimore City State's Attorney Office and Assistant State’s Attorney Zach Varda prosecuted the case on behalf of the citizens of St. Mary’s County.

Detective Andrew Burgess of the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office was the lead investigator.

The Honorable Amy Lorenzini presided over the case.

Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: https://so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at https://so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at https://so.md/expungeme.