April 21st, 2015 by WCBC Radio
The Cumberland Times News reports that while sentencing Jessyca Layne Kimble, 29, of Midland for the Aug. 19 stabbing death of her husband, Allegany County Circuit Court Judge W. Timothy Finan said he took into account a history of domestic violence between the couple. Finan, though, decided to sentence Kimble to more time than that recommended in a presentence investigation.
Kimble pleaded guilty to manslaughter Jan. 13 in the death of her husband, 29-year-old Edward Kimble. Kimble was initially charged with second-degree murder.
On Tuesday afternoon, in Allegany County Circuit Court on Washington Street, Finan sentenced Kimble to six years in prison, with three years suspended, and five years of probation. The presentence investigation had recommended 18 months of incarceration for Kimble, below the two to seven years indicated by state sentencing guidelines, which are not mandatory.
Kimble has served 244 days, with some time out of jail, in the Allegany County Detention Center since her arrest in August. In the plea agreement, the state had agreed to recommend the sentence in the presentence investigation. The judge is not bound by the plea agreement under Maryland law.
Kimble spoke before she was sentenced.
“Edward Kimble was my husband and I love him… . Eddie and the Lord know my heart,” Kimble said. “No words can convey how sorry I am that he is no longer with us,” Kimble said.
Attorneys agreed in assessing the case.
“This is a horribly tragic situation where there are no winners,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Erich Bean. Family members of Kimble and her husband testified during the hour and a half sentencing hearing.
Kimble’s defense attorney, Sean Gallagher, pleaded for a sentence of time served and probation. “It’s absolutely true … this is a sad case,” Gallagher said.
Finan said a petition for modification of the sentence could be filed within 90 days.
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