Second Conviction In I-95 Murder Of Havre de Grace Man

From the Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office:

Joseph I. Cassilly, State’s Attorney for Harford County, announced today the conviction of Demetrius D. Lovelace, Temple Hills, Maryland, for his participation in the murder of Alan Zurita of Havre De Grace, Maryland.

Lovelace was indicted for the murder and the case was tried before a jury beginning on November 2, 2009. The jury began deliberations on November 10, 2009 and returned a guilty verdict on November 12, 2009 for 1st degree felony murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, robbery, attempted robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and illegal possession of a regulated firearm by a convicted felon.

A pre-sentence investigation was ordered. The sentencing is currently scheduled for January 25, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Thomas E. Marshall.

On April 1, 2008, the Maryland State Police discovered the body of Alan Zurita on the shoulder of southbound I-95 prior to the Route 24 exit. Zurita had a single gunshot wound to his chest and later died from his injuries at the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center.

The co-defendant in the case, Damon Jackson, Havre De Grace, Maryland, was previously sentenced by Judge Marshal to life in prison for 1st degree murder and a consecutive 15 years for the use of a handgun in the commission of a murder. The remaining counts were merged into the murder count or the other handgun count. When the defendant is released, he will be placed on 5 years of supervised probation.

Both cases were tried by Deputy State’s Attorney Scott Lewis. The Office of the State’s Attorney for Harford County would like to thank the Maryland State Police, Harford County sheriff’s office, Havre De Grace Police Department and the Prince Georges County Sheriff’s Office for their hard work and cooperation in conducting the investigation that resulted in the arrest of Lovelace.