Man Who Stabbed Friend to Death in Harper's Choice Gets 5 Years

A man who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in April for stabbing a friend to death in September 2011 was sentenced to five years in prison at Howard County Circuit Court on Friday morning.

Anthony Patrick Parker, 54, surrendered to police the day after he stabbed Philip Edward Wise, 46, in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 5500 block of Harper's Farm Road in Harper's Choice.

Parker, who is listed in court records as having addresses in Columbia and Gwynn Oak, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Wise's death after a trial in April.

During the trial, it was reported Wise and Parker were part of a group of six people traveling in a van looking for scrap metal when they changed plans to head to a cookout in Wilde Lake, according to reporting from Explore Howard.

However, after they found out the cookout wasn't taking place, Parker and Wise engaged in an argument, which led to a fight outside the van, according to Explore Howard. During the fight, Parker stabbed and killed Wise with an eight-inch blade, but he claimed during the trial it was self-defense, according to the article.

On Friday, assistant state's attorney Susan Weinstein asked Judge Louis A. Becker for a sentence of 10 years, stating, "[He] is a danger to the community and a danger to the people he knows," according to Wayne Kirwan, a spokesperson for the Howard County state's attorney's office.

Becker sentenced Parker to 10 years, suspending five, but ordered Parker to be placed on supervised probation for five years after his release, according to Kirwan.

Sign up for the Columbia Patch newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for instant news updates and community conversations.