A heated argument at a children’s basketball game ended in a grandmother’s murder, two other people wounded, and a Maryland woman sentenced to 140 years behind bars for helping orchestrate the deadly attack.
Cassandra McRae, 38, was sentenced Tuesday, October 13, for her role in the January 2025 shooting that killed 52-year-old Anntoinette Jennings, a beloved grandmother and preschool teaching assistant in Baltimore.
The shocking violence began with a confrontation at Jennings’ granddaughter’s basketball game and escalated into a deadly ambush just minutes later.
According to Baltimore prosecutors, McRae became involved in an argument with members of Jennings’ family during the game on January 22, 2025.
Surveillance footage showed McRae leaving the event while making a phone call before climbing into a gray sedan that followed Jennings’ Honda CR-V.
The vehicle eventually stopped near the 5400 block of York Road in Baltimore.
McRae then got out and approached the passenger side of Jennings’ SUV as two men moved toward the driver’s side.
“There they go right there, there they go right there,” McRae was heard saying, according to prosecutors.
Seconds later, one of the men opened fire into the vehicle.
Jennings was fatally shot, while two relatives, including her 11-year-old granddaughter, suffered gunshot wounds. Her 6-year-old grandson and another family member escaped physical injury.
All five had been inside the SUV when the shooting erupted.
The attackers fled, leaving the family devastated by a confrontation that began at a youth sporting event.
Jennings worked as a prekindergarten teaching assistant at Waverly Elementary/Middle School, where she was remembered for her dedication to young children.
Investigators eventually identified McRae and another suspect, Tavon Singleton, in connection with the shooting.
Singleton was later acquitted of all charges. Authorities also investigated another man suspected of participating in the attack.
Although McRae did not fire the fatal shots, prosecutors argued that she helped arrange the confrontation and directed the gunman toward Jennings’ vehicle.
A jury convicted her of second-degree murder, four counts of conspiracy to commit murder, four counts of attempted second-degree murder, five firearm offenses, and reckless endangerment.
During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, McRae maintained her innocence and insisted she had been wrongfully convicted.
“I have committed no crime. I am innocent,” she told the court.
Her attorney argued for a significantly shorter sentence, emphasizing that she had not pulled the trigger and had no previous criminal record.
Prosecutors, however, sought a 295-year prison term, arguing that McRae’s actions had set the deadly attack in motion.
Baltimore Circuit Judge Dana Middleton ultimately imposed a 140-year prison sentence, with the first 25 years to be served without the possibility of parole.
The judge described McRae as the catalyst for the shooting, finding that her actions helped cause the deadly confrontation even though another person fired the weapon.
Jennings’ grieving relatives filled the courtroom, with some wearing shirts bearing her photograph and messages demanding justice.
Her husband, Gabriel Jennings, spoke about the pain of losing his wife and said he still dreams about her.
“I just want justice,” he told the court. “It’s just not right. It’s not fair.”
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said the extraordinary sentence reflected the devastating consequences of a senseless act of violence.
He condemned the disregard for human life that left a grandmother dead and an 11-year-old child wounded following an argument at a children’s sporting event.
For Jennings’ family, the sentence closes a major chapter in the criminal case but cannot undo the loss of a woman who went to support her granddaughter and never returned home.
McRae, now 38, faces the likelihood of spending the rest of her life in prison over a dispute that turned deadly.
