Man serving life for 1982 murder of Stephanie Roper seeks sentence reduction

A man convicted for his role in a deadly kidnapping and rape of a Frostburg State University student could have his sentence reduced.

Jerry Beatty, now 59, is serving two concurrent life sentences and a concurrent 20-year sentence for the 1982 kidnapping, rape, and murder of 22-year-old Stephanie Roper. 

Beatty entered a guilty plea, while his co-defendant, then 26-year-old Jack Jones, was convicted by a jury for the same offenses. He was 17 years old at the time of the offense. 

According to a June 2023 filing, his defense attorney cited the Juvenile Restoration Act passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2021, which prohibits courts from sentencing people to life in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes that occurred when they were under 18.

"Most relevant for the purpose of this motion [it] created a statute – Criminal Procedure Article 8-110" – that permits people who have been imprisoned at least 20 years for crimes committed when they were minors to file a motion to reduce their sentence," the motion states.

At a hearing Monday over the possible sentence reduction, eight witnesses testified on behalf of the defense. They included a correctional officer and an expert in psychology who testified he believed Beatty would be a "low risk" of violence if he was released.

There were also several former inmates who spent years in prison with Beatty and have since been released. Donald Bryan served more than 19 years in prison.

"I can say Jerry is probably one of the only guys that still feels a lot of regret for his past. He always mentions the victim’s family. A lot of times, when you do something in the past…no matter what you try, you can’t change it. You just have to keep moving forward," Bryan said. "To the victim’s family, first of all, I want to say he’s not the same person. Secondly, I want to say that he still feels a lot of regret about what he did, but there’s nothing he can do about it."

Defense attorneys detailed Beatty’s childhood in the June 2023 motion arguing the merits of a hearing over a possible sentence change. 

According to the filing, Beatty’s mother died when he was 12, and he experienced both emotional and physical abuse from his father. By the age of 14, his attorney said he was out of the house and eventually began living with the co-defendant a few weeks prior to the 1982 offense.

Since then, the filing said Beatty has become a "devoted Christian" and earned his GED. He enrolled in Coppin State College and earned a bachelor’s degree while completing other rehabilitation programs.

Also in court Monday was Roberta Roper, the mother of Stephanie Roper. She founded the Maryland Crime Victim’s Resource Center, Inc. 

The organization’s victim advocates and attorneys serve victims of crime across the state of Maryland.

"Long ago, my husband forgave both Jones and Beatty. Not that we forget or excuse or don’t hold them accountable, but we were not going to let them control our lives and take anything else from us. Steal our happiness, our joy," Roper said Monday.

Though she said she would accept any outcome of the court, she disagreed with the law and said any sentence reduction should be up to a parole commission.

"He [Beatty] has come up for parole but denied those opportunities," she said. "I worked too long and too hard to enable my children, my family to have hope and to lead good productive lives and work for other crime victims. That’s where I stand today."

Roper added that her primary goal for this hearing was to be a voice for her daughter – along with other victims.

"We were shut out of the trial. We could not observe the trial of Jack Jones. Beatty pled guilty. We felt cheated when Jones took his own life and I longed for the day there would be a parole hearing and for Beatty to understand the impact of his choices on our family and community," she said.

Court will resume on Tuesday.