Although it’s been almost seven years since Jessica Hernandez’s husband, Steven Wilson, was murdered, Hernandez still keeps in touch with the victim advocate who guided her through the court system.
Hernandez said her advocate makes sure she and her family know when the man who was convicted of killing Wilson is switching prisons.
“She still keeps me in the loop of where he is, and I think that just helps ease my entire family’s minds as well, knowing that he’s in the place where he needs to be and if he is on the road, we’re aware of it,” Hernandez said.
The Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office has 20 advocates between the county’s district and circuit courts as part of its victim services program. In August, the office was awarded more than $241,000 from the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy, about $5,000 less than it received for fiscal year 2025.
The money will fund 75% of the salaries for four of the office’s full-time advocates, including a bilingual position, for fiscal year 2026.
“It’s incredible to have this many [victim advocates],” Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said. “Basically, we’re saving the county a couple hundred thousand dollars and we’re able to support victims.”
Victim/Witness Services Director Joan Stammnitz, an advocate with the county for 28 years, said the job is to make sure victims understand the court process, know their rights and have the resources they need.
Those range from connecting people with mental health services to calling them an Uber so they can get to the courthouse for a hearing.
Victim advocates also help witnesses of crimes. Stammnitz said that even witnessing crimes can be traumatic.
“And so we do everything we can to try to get them to understand what court really is,” she said.
Advocates are involved in a case from the bail review hearing often until years after a conviction, notifying them of parole hearings and when the defendant is released.
Will Cockey, a spokesperson for the State’s Attorney’s Office, said in an email that there are no set guidelines for contacting victims after a trial.
“The goal of the advocate is always to provide whatever support and resources that person may need on a case-by-case basis,” he said.
A guide through difficult times
In the wake of her husband’s murder, one of the things Hernandez wanted was to keep her child’s birth private.
Hernandez discovered she was four weeks pregnant with her and Wilson’s third child the night before Wilson, a sales agent for Ryan Homes, was fatally shot at a model home in 2018.
Her advocate, Helen Pryal, helped her keep her baby’s birth private by making sure the hospital knew to block unwanted visitors.
“I didn’t want the news to be at the hospital when I was having the baby,” Hernandez said. “And she was one to make sure that didn’t happen.”
Pryal said she has a picture at her desk of Hernandez’s son from the night he was born. She said she remembers putting Hernandez in contact with a detective to help her keep the birth private.
Hernandez said that throughout the court process, Pryal was her guide, answering legal questions and helping her with her victim impact statement.
Hernandez said she would have been “very lost” in the process if she didn’t have an advocate.
On top of preparing her for court, Pryal helped Hernandez retrieve her husband’s possessions and connected her with widow groups.
“She was my person to call for anything regarding the whole situation,” Hernandez said.
Pryal said she’s developed a friendship with Hernandez over the years.
“We keep up,” Pryal said. “She sends me pictures of her kids on holidays.”
Expanded services
Anne Arundel County’s victim services program has grown since Leitess began her term as state’s attorney in 2018.
In that time, her office has expanded the victim services program in the district court to anyone who’s been assaulted, not just victims of domestic violence. It has also added four victim advocates to its staff.
Two of those added positions are funded by grant money from the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy.
When grant funding for victim services from the governor’s office became competitive in 2024, the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office was able to raise the award from $124,599 in fiscal year 2023 to $146,099 in fiscal year 2024.
For fiscal year 2026, the State’s Attorney’s Office has secured $241,422.
Stammnitz said victim advocates are there to “fight the good fight,” but in the end, it’s up to the criminal justice system.
“A lot of our cases, no matter how much we work with these people, it may not go the way that we had hoped it would,” she said.
All victim advocates can do, Stammnitz said, is try their best to make sure victims feel like they received the help they needed.
Have a news tip? Contact Maggie Trovato at mtrovato@baltsun.com, 443-890-0601 or on X @MaggieTrovato.
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