An 18-year-old has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for the death of a man in Bethesda a year ago, per the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office (MCSAO).
Joshua Wright, 18, of Bethesda, was sentenced to life in prison with all but 40 years suspended for the homicide of 33-year-old Lawrence Wilson Jr. on Dec. 19, 2021.
According to a previous report from the Montgomery County Police Department, someone called the Second District Station in Bethesda on Dec. 20, 2021 and said they had information about a stabbing death at the Target on Wisconsin Avenue. Later that day, Wright came to the station and said he witnessed the stabbing. Around 8:15 p.m., officers responded to the 6800 block of Wisconsin Avenue and found Wilson in a stairwell with trauma to his body and he was pronounced dead on the scene.
Wright and two other teenagers were charged with first degree murder, armed robbery, and conspiracy to commit robbery. Antonio Lawrence, who was 16-years-old at the time, is scheduled for trial in February. Charges against the third teen were dropped this year.
Wright pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in July and was sentenced Wednesday in Montgomery County Circuit Court. MCSAO said Judge Karla Smith ordered Wright be admitted to the Patuxent Youthful Offenders Program while he is incarcerated.
He will be on five years of supervised probation after he is released, per MCSAO.
