A Silver Spring, Maryland, man who beat his landlord with a broken table leg in a near-fatal 2020 attack was sentenced to 27 years in prison Thursday,
A jury found 31-year-old Geofrey Gaitan guilty of second-degree attempted murder in April. The conviction came after two previous trials ended with hung juries, according to a news release from the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Gaitan also faces five years of supervised probation after his release, the State’s Attorney’s Office said.
A look back at the attack
The attempted murder took place on the afternoon of April 19, 2020. Police responded to a house on Hastings Drive in Silver Spring, where they found the 63-year-old victim lying unconscious on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood, according to charging documents. He was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
Outside, officers found Gaitan standing in the driveway with blood on his shoes, charging documents said.
A witness, who lived in the basement of the house where the attack happened, told detectives he heard “a commotion” on the first floor minutes before officers had arrived on the scene. The witness said he went upstairs, where he saw Gaitan stomp and punch the victim’s head “three to four times.”
The witness told authorities that he shouted at Gaitan to stop, to which he responded, “I got this, man.” That’s when the witness retreated to his bedroom and called police.
The victim was the landlord of the home but also had a room there, the witness told police. Gaitan had been late on rent payments since the previous year, according to charging documents.
Detectives interviewed another witness, also a man who lived in the house on Hastings Drive. This witness told police he heard the victim leave his bedroom; then, he said he heard yelling and a “loud thud.”
When this witness came to see what was going on, he found Gaitan in the front hallway, shouting, “Just leave him.” That’s when the witness turned a corner and saw the victim lying face down in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. He noticed gashes on the right side of the victim’s head, as well as a split table leg nearby.
The victim was groaning loudly but could not speak, charging documents said.
This witness also went to his bedroom to call police, and when he came back out to the scene, he said he saw Gaitan standing in front of the home, repeating, “He’s the reason why I don’t have my money.”
According to an unreported appellate court opinion, police came across Gaitan carrying a duffel bag when they got to the scene. Officers said Gaitan told them he “was just out for a run,” seeming “very calm.” Later, police recovered Gaitan’s passport and birth certificate from the duffel.
Victim’s injuries
Doctors who treated the victim told police that he “was most likely not going to survive this incident,” according to charging documents.
The victim did survive, but suffered multiple skull fractures and a permanent, traumatic brain injury, the State’s Attorney’s Office said.
According to the appellate court opinion, the victim’s significant other testified that he ““[c]an’t
dress himself. … He can’t feed himself. He doesn’t watch TV anymore. He doesn’t read.
He can’t see.”
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