STATE ATTORNEY DAVIS RUARK VICTORIUS IN PIRKLE CASE

The day had finally come for the trial of Brittany Barclay. She along with two other convicted teenage murderers Kenneth Alvira age 16 and Briana Brinkley age 19 carjacked and viciously and brutally stabbed 25 yr old Anitra Pirkle on a cold evening this past Jan 22 2009 and left her in a field on Williams Mill Pond road to later die All who attended the trial found their way to the fourth floor of the courthouse and entered courtroom three. The room was familiar to me since I had attended the other two trials which were in this same courtroom. I took the seat near the huge windows that had provided such warmth and comfort from the sun streaming through them just like in the previous trials. It gave me a sense of such gratitude to be able to see and feel the sun to know that I was alive to see another day,that was not afforded to dear Anitra. State attorney Davis Ruark and assisting attorney Jamie Lynn Dykes who had been the prosecuting attorneys in each of the other two trials were seated in the courtroom early and going over notes and trying to make sure their presentation of the facts in this case to the jury would ensure them a victorious outcome. Not only for the family of Anitra but for the safety of the community. Davis knew this case was not as cut and dry as everyone tried to make it seem.There were three perpetrators of this crime all trying to put the blame on each other and each one trying to make their part seem lesser than the others. He knew just like in the previous trials that the defense attorney was there to fight tooth and nail to try to get this predator off or at least leniency.It couldn't happen at least not on his watch.

On day one of the trial court was now in session and the Honorable Judge D.William Simpson had taken his seat on the bench. He is known to be a no nonsense judge and if you are in trouble you did not want to come before him in a courtroom. He lived up to his reputation. He was a small framed, distinguished gentleman but when he spoke his voice shook the walls of the courtroom. He was stern and direct and very matter of fact. He had no time for idol chatter in his courtroom, just the facts and the verdict that's all he needed to know and he would handle the rest. The jurors filed in one by one taking their seats to hear of probably one of the most gruesome and horrific slaughters of an innocent human being they had ever heard of in the state of Maryland. Davis knew their lives would never be the same.

Their was a silence over the courtroom except for the faint whimpering of Anitra's mother and family as state attorney Davis called each witness to testify about the events of the tragic night of Anitra's death. Anitra stopped at the tastee freeze to grab a bite to eat on her way home from work. She didn't see Brittany, Brianna or Alvira when she pulled up but these three " animals" from a distance saw her pull into the tastee freeze and waited for her to come out. They wanted her car. She didn't know them and never saw them coming. At that moment I could only imagine the sheer and utter terror she felt. An eye witness who had the courage to come forward and testify saw Anitra in her car and while putting her food down and adjusting herself in the front seat saw Brittany, Alvira and Barclay appear out of nowhere and all three positioned themselves at her front and rear car doors and simultaneously jumped in.

The jurors "gasped " when state attorney Davis presented them with the "sword" that was used to kill Anitra. Briana and Alvira testified how Anitra initially was stabbed twice in the chest with this huge hideous medieval type sword dagger which from testimony of her female lover was stolen from a flea market by Barkley weeks prior. Anitra was then forced to drive as she pleaded for her life and begged to be taken to a hospital because she was having a hard time breathing. She was loosing air. She was dying. They continued to force her to drive down Williams Mill Pond Rd in Delmar where they made her stop the car. They pulled her out of the car as she continued to plead for her life. "Please don't kill me " Please don't kill me" I'll give you anything you want. Her cries for mercy fell on deaf ears. As some of the jurors gently wiped tears from their eyes to hear of this horror that had taken place others just sat with the look of anger to think that such heartlessness existed in this world and in the community in which they lived. They forced Anitra to lie down in the field on that cold January night where they repeatedly sliced and stabbed and mutilated her tiny frame. They thought she was dead. They then jumped in her car and drove off to joy ride the rest of the night away. They didn't know little Anitra wasn't dead yet. She was a fighter. She clawed her way and drug her almost lifeless body through the field to the edge of the road where a motorist spotted her from the faint light of her headlights on that dark and lonely road in Delmar. She stopped and used her cell phone to call for help. Anitra stayed alive long enough to to give police a description of her carjackers and killers.

She died at the hospital where the doctors and nurses worked frantically to try to save her. The wounds were too much for her tiny body to take. She could fight no more. The doctor who tried to save Anitra sobbed as he gave his testimony of what he had experienced that night. It was one of the most horrific stabbings he had seen in his career as a doctor.

The defendant Brittany Barkley was seated beside her lawyer.She was very tall and husky and dressed like a man in a suit and collared shirt. Her hair was cut and faded like a man. Evil in its purest form sat in the courtroom that day. I had to close my eyes every now and then to separate fact from fiction.In fact I was looking at a girl but my eyes and mind just kept saying "He". "Why did "he" have to kill little Anitra." Why did "he" bother her at all? Why not just take the car and let her go ?So many unanswered questions. She sat in her seat and showing no emotion or sorrow for the crime she had helped commit and shifting from side to side, holding the side of her face as if she was board testimony and evidence presented against her.

The sun rose early on the steps of the court house for the second and final day of the trial. There was one more testimony linking Barkley directly to the crime and then the state rested its case. Attorney Jamie Lynne Dykes was first to give her closing arguments. She was a beautiful intelligent and articulate young woman. She had a calm and gentle demeanor but delivered her closing argument with such passion and compassion for Anitra and her family to help assure that justice would be served in this case. "Senseless brutal and random" The jurors never took there eyes off her from the moment she uttered those words. They knew that this case had to do with the safety of the community as well as justice for Anitra.

State attorney Davis Ruark stood up to close out the final arguments. I knew this case had affected him deeply because of the senselessness of this crime and the heartless merciless slaughter of this innocent college graduate, law abiding member of the community, hardworking ,tax paying tiny framed young woman. She just stopped to get a bite to eat. This could have been any one of us in this community. Brianna Brinkley, Brittany Barkley, and Kenneth Alvira are menaces to our society and states attorney Davis knew they hat to be stopped. His dramatization of the events of this case where compelling and the jurors were spellbound by his delivery of the facts and the evidence presented. I didn't know Davis Ruark before this case, I only knew of him. It was amazing to see him work. He was handsome, intelligent, articulate and he knew the law inside and out. He broke the law down in layman's terms so that the jury and everyone in the courtroom was well informed. There was no small print, no hidden fees, just straight law no chaser.I admired how he surrounded himself with people who knew there job as well to help him get this case solved. This case to me was like a relay race for Ruark. He acknowledged all the runners in the race.

The police who helped him gather information and pass the baton, the detectives and investigators especially Scott Cook and Sabrina Metzger who helped him gather information and pass the baton ,the sherriff's dept, the doctors, forensics and all of the witnesses and his assisting attorney Jamie Lynn Dykes. He was passed the baton (facts, evidence,law) ran the race and crossed the finish line and passed the baton to the jurors that ended this race victoriously. The jury found Brittany Barkley guilty on all counts including first and second degree murder. Her sentencing date is pending a PSI, (Pre Sentencing Investigation). I know attorney Davis Ruark may not win every case that he prosecutes but he and his team went into the battle armed prepared and ready to fight their best fight and at the end of the day that's all you can ask of any human being.

As the sun set on the state court house the final trial of Anitra Pirkle's killers was over. I'm sure she is looking down from heaven pleased at all the love and concern and support that was shown to her and her family by this is entire community. She will always be loved, missed and never forgotten. May you rest in peace 'Little Angel' who once lived and walked among us.