Matthew Hightower gets 40 years for a murder-for-hire that killed the wrong woman.

A concurrent 40-year federal sentence after a guilty plea is the judgment on this count, not a new trial. Reporting ties the Ashburne killing to a murder-for-hire plot aimed at a female federal witness who lived next door. Ashburne was similar in age and appearance and was shot as she got into her car. That mistaken-identity account is what prosecutors and the outlets described. It is not a finding that anyone else on Rosalind Avenue was the intended target of a jury that sat this week.

CBS Baltimore and FOX45 reported that on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, Judge Stephanie Gallagher sentenced Matthew Hightower, 44, to 40 years in federal prison and five years of supervised release for using a firearm in connection with a violent crime tied to Ashburne's death. WBAL and The Banner reported the same 40-year term. The Banner and WBAL reported that Hightower pleaded guilty last year in the Ashburne case. A sentence after a guilty plea is the court's judgment on that count.

According to CBS Baltimore, FOX45, and The Banner, Hightower had intended for a female federal witness to be killed after she provided information about his involvement in a healthcare fraud scheme and in the murder of David Wutoh. While incarcerated before trial, he used jail calls and letters to communicate about the plot, those accounts said. Ashburne, who lived next door to the intended target and was similar in age and appearance, was shot and killed as she entered her car outside her Rosalind Avenue home in May 2016. The Banner put the date at May 27, 2016, and identified her as a teacher's aide. Those are the reported facts of the killing behind the sentence. They are not a new jury finding entered Thursday.

CBS Baltimore and FOX45 identified Davon Carter, 46, of Baltimore, as the shooter and Clifton Mosley, 49, of Baltimore, as an accomplice. Both are serving federal life sentences for their roles in the murder plot, those outlets reported. FOX45 and CBS Baltimore reported that on Sept. 22, 2016, after a seven-day trial, a federal jury convicted Hightower in the Wutoh case, and that he was previously sentenced to 380 months — more than 31 years — plus five years of supervised release for that murder and related conduct. Thursday's 40-year term was ordered to run concurrently with that existing sentence. The Banner reported prosecutors had sought 60 years consecutive to the earlier term, while the defense asked for 30 years. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.