The woman involved in the slaying of a Fredericksburg food delivery driver last year was sentenced today to 60 years in prison.
Marcey Odessa White, 37, was sentenced in Fredericksburg Circuit Court for her role in the abduction and slaying of Yong Zhang in July of last year.
Zhang, 24, was abducted and killed after White and her boyfriend, Jermaine Montgomery, lured him to a vacant home at 202 Charles St. by ordering food from China Express.
Zhang was later stabbed to death in Spotsylvania and his body was dumped in Sussex County.
Montgomery, 35, has already pleaded guilty to capital murder in Spotsylvania and is serving three life sentences.
The sentence White received today from Judge Gordon Willis exceeded the state sentencing guidelines and what was requested by Commonwealth’s Attorney LaBravia Jenkins.
The guidelines called for a maximum penalty of 19 years in prison, while Jenkins asked the judge to give White 37 years.
Defense attorney Allen Bareford asked that White receive a maximum of 15 years in prison. Bareford noted that White had cooperated in the case against Montgomery and was not the actual killer.
Bareford seemed startled when Willis pronounced his sentence, asking the judge if he meant to suspend more time. Willis made it clear that he did not.
White had pleaded guilty about a year ago in Fredericksburg to carjacking, abduction, credit card theft and three counts of conspiracy.
In return for her cooperation against Montgomery, she was not charged in Spotsylvania.
Zhang was working for his family’s business when it received a telephone order for two dinners about 9 p.m. July 3.
When Zhang had not returned more than an hour later, city police were called. A pool of blood was found at the vacant apartment building on Charles Street, but Zhang was not.
White told authorities that she and Montgomery had taken a bus to Fredericksburg about a week earlier to seek work.
They stayed briefly with White’s sister, but the sister did not like Montgomery and told the couple to leave.
White told authorities that she and Montgomery then hatched a plan to rob a delivery driver of money and a vehicle so Montgomery could get to a welding job in Maine.
They considered Pizza Hut and Domino’s before settling on China Express.
White ordered the food and called back again after about 20 minutes to see if the delivery was on the way.
Montgomery, who had been hiding near the building’s entrance, assaulted Zhang with a steel pipe and tossed the driver’s car keys to White.
White told police that Zhang was bleeding and pleading for help as Montgomery tied him up with a luggage cord, took his wallet and placed him in the trunk.
During the ensuing ride, the couple used Zhang’s credit card to purchase $221 worth of gas, beer and cigarettes.
Zhang was killed in Spotsylvania after Montgomery became annoyed that he wouldn’t stop struggling and yelling.
Montgomery purchased a butcher knife at a Bloom’s and stabbed Zhang. He had already beaten him repeatedly with the pipe.
After the slaying, the couple retrieved some luggage they had hidden near White’s sister’s house and drove to Southampton County.
The couple and a friend of Montgomery’s were apprehended a couple of days later at a Walmart in Franklin, where they were still using Zhang’s credit card.
The friend, Tony Greene, had helped Montgomery dump Zhang’s body.
Defense witnesses called by Bareford today described her as a good person who’d had a rough upbringing.
They said she’d been sexually molested by her stepfather, who fathered the daughter she had when she was 19.
Bareford said White was “surprised” by Montgomery’s decision to kill Zhang and said “it was something she couldn’t stop.”
Bareford said White has “found her faith again” and is no longer the person who came to Fredericksburg “desperate for love, desperate for money and desperate to be with Mr. Montgomery.”
Jenkins said White’s cooperation with the police was “commendable,” but pointed out that it came only after she’d been arrested.
White made a brief statement prior to being sentenced in which she apologized to the devastated Zhang family, most of whom have returned to China.
Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
kepps@freelancestar.com