2nd Suspect Going To Prison For Beating Death

SNOW HILL - One of three men charged in the murder of a local woman in Pocomoke in January 2008 was sentenced to 10 years in jail by Judge Thomas Groton last week following a hearing in Circuit Court.

Shawn Treherne, 23, of Bowie, Md., appeared in Circuit Court in Snow Hill last Friday for a sentencing hearing after entering an Alford Plea to manslaughter in October for his role in the beating death of Judy Lynn Wojcik in a rural area near Pocomoke on Jan. 13, 2008.

Treherne was one of three men indicted on charges of first-degree murder by a Worcester County grand jury last week. One of his co-defendants, Kendall Irin Northam, 20, of Pocomoke, was found guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree assault after a two-day trial last fall and was sentenced to 30 years in jail. A third man, David K. Justice, 20, of Pocomoke, has also pleaded guilty to manslaughter and awaits his fate pending the outcome of a pre-sentence investigation.

A Worcester County grand jury last February indicted Treherne, Justice and Northam, charging them with first-degree murder and other offenses related to the beating death of Wojcik, whose body was found by trappers in a rural area near Pocomoke last January. Early on in the investigation, detectives identified Treherne and Northam as suspects and Justice was later included.

On Jan. 23, police arrested Northam after a short chase and Treherne was taken into custody with the help of U.S. Marshals and the Prince George's County Criminal Task Force near Bowie, Md. Justice was arrested in connection with the case later that evening.

According to court records, a concerned witness told detectives he allegedly spoke to Northam shortly after the murder was reported to the police and that Northam said himself, Treherne and another man picked up Wojcik and drove her to a wooded area where she was to perform sex acts for money and drugs. Northam allegedly told the witness a disagreement arose for some reason at which time they beat and kicked Wojcik and left her in the wooded area.

From the beginning, each of the defendants provided information to police about the other two in an effort to get a softer sentence. Justice cut his own deal in the case by providing prosecutors with more information about Treherne's role in the death of Wojcik, which facilitated his manslaughter plea arrangement.