Michigan man sentenced to life in prison for murdering ex-girlfriend | Crime

Ninth Judicial Circuit Solicitor Scarlett A. Wilson announced that a Berkeley County jury convicted defendant Edward Mark Fabian Hannah of murder, first-degree burglary, and first-degree assault and battery. Judge Thomas W. Cooper Jr. sentenced Hannah to life in prison on the murder and robbery charges and to a maximum of 10 years in prison for the assault and battery charges.

The victim, Birthener “Joy” Joseph, 58, of Summerville, had moved to South Carolina in June 2021 to live with her daughter and end her relationship with Hannah. Hannah flew from Michigan and arrived at the victim’s home uninvited on September 2, 2021. After law enforcement was called, he left the home before they arrived but remained in the vicinity.

Three nights later, on September 5, 2021, Hannah kicked in the back door of the house around 3 a.m., breaking the bolted door. The suspect, who tried to attack the victim’s 12-year-old grandchild when he entered the house, encountered the victim’s 13-year-old grandson. He found Joseph in the hallway and administered blunt force trauma to him, in addition to stabbing him with scissors.

During the attack, his 12-year-old grandson was trapped in his bedroom and escaped through his bedroom window. She and her 13-year-old brother, who rescued their 11-month-old nephew from the house, ran to a neighbor’s house and called 911. Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office deputies Michael Donovan and Brandon Williams arrived at the scene within minutes, but the defendant arrived at the scene within minutes. escaped.

Hannah was seen on a nearby Ring camera video minutes later. Deputy Devonte Rumph caught up with him on foot a short time later, less than a mile away. The children immediately identified the attacker and he was captured without incident.

First responders transported the victim to Trident Medical Hospital; where the trauma team treated him for his life-threatening injuries. Joseph survived the initial attack but suffered permanent brain damage and ultimately succumbed to his injuries on April 28, 2022.

Wilson said the murder was a result of Hannah’s harassment and that Hannah was angry that the victim broke off the relationship and did not return her calls. Evidence presented at trial showed persistent stalking and harassing behavior towards the victim and her family.

During the four-day hearing, paralegals Julie Rochester and Michael Secrist presented evidence from the teenage victims, first responders, law enforcement, DNA experts, doctors and a forensic cell phone expert. Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department Case agent Lt. John Caddell was one of the first on the scene the night of the crimes and testified at trial.

Rochester praised the courage of the child witnesses in the case.

“The quick thinking and courage of the children in this home not only saved their lives that night, but their testimony in court also helped convict their grandmother’s killer,” he said.

The 57-year-old defendant had prior convictions in multiple jurisdictions for aggravated assault, robbery with use of a deadly weapon, forcible rape, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, assault, resisting a police officer and breaking and entering. The State notified Hannah to seek life in prison without parole on the murder and first-degree burglary charges; Once the jury returned a verdict of guilty, the court had to impose these charges.