Keith Washington jailed for 45 years in deliverymen shooting

‘‘The inescapable fact is that one man is dead,” Whalen told the packed Upper Marlboro courtroom.

Washington, 46, was sentenced to serve each jail term consecutively. He had been convicted of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of using a handgun after a six-day jury trial. Jurors spent 11 hours deliberating in the case, in which they also found him not guilty of second-degree murder and six other charges.

The crime happened just after 7:45 p.m. on Jan. 24, 2007, when Washington, a former Army officer, shot two Marlo Furniture deliverymen who came to exchange a bedroom set. One man, 22-year-old Brandon Clark, died 10 days later in a hospital from his wounds. The other man, Robert White, 37, survived and testified against Washington at the hearing Tuesday.

‘‘I was trying to do my job, not be out in the street,” said White, who said the shooting has cost him his ability to work and to run. ‘‘I hurt every day.”

Washington, along with friends from law enforcement and the military, asked the judge for mercy and apologized to Clark’s mother.

‘‘If I could have not shot them, I would have,” Washington said, his voice shaking as he held back tears. ‘‘I was a public servant. I wasn’t always a perfect servant, but I have always stood for what is right.”