Teen sentenced for helping murder suspects
A Richmond teenager was sentenced to eight years in prison with six suspended to probation Thursday morning for his role in the killing of Caleb Woosley.
David A. Maish, 19, pleaded guilty to a Class C felony charge of assisting a criminal in a plea agreement accepted by Judge Charles K. Todd Jr. in Wayne County Superior Court I. The plea agreement had been filed earlier Thursday, superseding a Dec. 15 plea agreement.
Todd granted Maish 202 days of credit for time served and 202 days of good time credit.
As part of the plea deal, Maish has agreed to testify in criminal proceedings against co-defendants Deandre Plant, 20; Kore Buchanan, 17; and Michael Pruitt, 17. Each faces a murder charge for allegedly beating Woosley to death on May 17, 2014.
Buchanan and Plant are scheduled for trial at 9 a.m. March 23 in Superior Court I. Pruitt's trial is scheduled for 9 a.m. April 27 in Superior Court I.
When Maish is released from prison, he will be on supervised probation until the cases against Plant, Buchanan and Pruitt are completed, then his probation will become unsupervised.
“I’ve been able to look at God for forgiveness of Mr. Maish for what he’s done,” Woosley’s father, John Woosley, told the court Thursday.
He then told Maish, “I want you to use this opportunity to get your life back together.”
In previous statements to police, Maish said Plant, Buchanan and Pruitt planned and committed Woosley’s murder, meeting at Pruitt’s home. He said he was invited to go along but declined.
Maish testified Thursday he supplied Plant, Buchanan and Pruitt with latex gloves before Woosley was killed and later helped them clean up and change clothes. He also admitted to helping them post pictures on Facebook to establish an alibi.
Pruitt was arrested in July 2014 when police received a secretly recorded cellphone video of Pruitt discussing his involvement in Woosley's killing.
Among the reasons Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Shipman cited in favor of the plea agreement were that Maish did not participate in the killing, Maish made a “conscious decision not to go” and Maish “decided to cooperate fairly early” during the investigation.
Staff writer Mike Emery: (765) 973-4466 or mwemery@pal-item.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PI_Emery.