BALTIMORE (LifeSiteNews) — A 28-year old man who was found guilty of savagely beating two elderly pro-life men, Mark Crosby and Dick Schaefer, in a May 2023 attack outside Planned Parenthood in Baltimore will be retried on one of the charges against him.
In February, a jury convicted Patrick Brice in Baltimore Circuit Court on two counts of second-degree assault and reckless endangerment for attacking Schaefer and Crosby. However, the jury could not reach a verdict on the most serious charge facing Brice: First-degree assault charge for attacking Crosby.
Crosby and Schaefer were ages 73 and 80 at the time of the attack.
Brice was to have been sentenced on March 20, but the judge in the case has delayed sentencing until August 7 after prosecutors announced the new trial. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for Friday, March 28.
Meanwhile, Brice is free on his own recognizance.
State’s attorney Ivan Bates told The Baltimore Banner that his office is “supporting victims and witnesses of crimes and ensuring justice is served in Baltimore.”
“While we understand the victim’s frustrations, we have made every effort to ensure they fully understand the process and have access to the necessary support,” said Bates. “As this is an open and ongoing matter, we will continue to provide this support throughout the case resolution process.”
LifeSiteNews previously reported that the pro-life advocates were brutally attacked while engaging in their sidewalk ministry outside the Planned Parenthood abortion facility on North Howard Street in Baltimore.
Schaefer reportedly recovered at home, but Crosby went to the University of Maryland’s shock trauma facility to receive treatment for serious injuries to his skull and eye socket as well as his knees and fingers.
Crosby’s right eye was blinded and he suffered a concussion.
LifeSiteNews conducted a video interview with Crosby and Schaefer outside Baltimore’s Planned Parenthood facility a few days after the unprovoked attack.
Crosby told LifeSiteNews at the time that he and Schaefer were engaged in their pro-life ministry when an unknown man approached, told Crosby to stay in the street, handed his drink to an abortion “escort,” and then charged into Schaefer who had his back to him, causing the pro-life advocate to fall against a planter and hit the ground.
A witness said that the then-as-yet-unidentified suspect previously engaged in a “visibly aggressive conversation” with Schaefer before knocking him to the ground.
Schaefer said that he had been speaking with someone just before he was attacked, but couldn’t be sure of who assaulted him because he had his back turned at the time.
“When I got hit, I didn’t see anybody,” he said.
“He speared the one gentleman over that flowerpot into the window and knocked him out. He was out cold for several minutes,” one witness said, according to WBAL. The outlet noted that “[i]t’s believed the assailant didn’t like Schaefer’s anti-abortion message.”
“I was worried he was going to be thrown up into the plate-glass window, but he went through the planter,” Crosby told Hale. “Dick hit the ground. He kicks Dick, I come over to help. He grabs my medals and yanks them off. He didn’t get to my Rosary.”
After rushing over to help Schaefer, Crosby was “punched, knocked down, and kicked in the head.”
“I went in there and he was on a gurney. His face was all swollen and bloody, blood all over his clothes,” Schaefer said regarding Crosby, according to WBAL.