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Ex-Death Row Inmate Gets Life in '93 Killings
By Eric Rich
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 15, 2004; Page B07

A former Maryland death row inmate whose sentence had been overturned
was resentenced yesterday to life without the possibility of parole by
a judge who called his crimes savage and horrific.

Darris A. Ware, 33, has been behind bars since 1993 on charges he
murdered two women in Anne Arundel County. Circuit Court Judge Robert
H. Heller Jr. threw out Ware's death sentence in 2002, saying his
attorneys had failed him, but allowed his convictions to stand.

Prosecutors say Ware shot and killed his girlfriend, 18-year-old Betina
"Kristi" Gentry, in a rage at her home in Severn after their
relationship soured. They say he then hunted down another woman who
happened to be at the home, 22-year-old Cynthia Allen, pr! ying open the
door to a bathroom where she had hidden, and shot her.

Allen had been on the telephone when the shooting began, and
prosecutors believe Ware was concerned about the witness on the other
end of the line. Ware suspected she had been talking to her husband and
went to their house. Despite his having just committed two murders,
prosecutors say, there was "nothing unusual" in Ware's demeanor when he
knocked on the door.

"That is incredibly scary, your honor," Assistant State's Attorney
Kathleen E. Rogers said in Anne Arundel Circuit Court. "That is what a
coldblooded killer is."

In a packed courtroom, Edward Gentry said the pain of losing his
daughter remains so sharp that "to this day it's just like it was
yesterday." Ramon Vega said he learned that his daughter, Allen, a
mother of two, had been murdered just five days after the death of his
father.

State's Attorney Frank R. Weathersbee said in Augu! st that, in
accordance with the wishes of the victims' families, he would not seek
the death penalty when Ware returned for sentencing. The judge's
options were life without the possibility of parole, life with the
possibility of parole and a life term that would be suspended after
some years.

Judge Joseph P. Manck told the victims' families that he appreciated
the "courageous stand you took in asking Mr. Weathersbee not to go
forward with the death penalty in the hope of resolving this matter
once and for all."

"I think what Mr. Ware did was savage," Manck said. "I think what Mr.
Ware did was horrific."

Ware had already addressed the court. He offered his "most sincere
apologies" to the families of the victims and said, "I am truly, truly
sorry, your honor, for this incident."

The hurried words were in contrast to comments Ware made after he was
sentenced to death in 1999, when he seemed to taunt Gentry's b! rother
Kevin with the prospect of an appeal. Then, according to a victim's
advocate who testified yesterday, Ware looked at Kevin Gentry and, with
a smirk on his face, said, "See you in three years."

One of Ware's attorneys, Arcangelo M. Tuminelli, asked Manck to
recommend Ware for a program at Patuxent Institution in Jessup, where
he might receive psychological treatment for depression and other
conditions. Tuminelli cautioned the judge against defining Ware by the
events of Dec. 30, 1993, saying Ware was honorably discharged from the
Navy shortly before the murders and has been a model inmate since.

Tuminelli described his client as "an ordinary man who committed some
very evil acts . . . but he is not an evil man."

In the 11 years since his arrest, Ware has been tried twice --
convicted both times, in 1995 and 1999 -- and his case has been the
subject of numerous appeals. In 2002, Judge Heller overturned his death
sentence, saying his attorneys in 1999 were not adequately prepared for
sentencing before a jury.

Tuminelli said outside of court yesterday that he was certain Ware
would appeal again.

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