John J. McCarthy, State’s Attorney for Montgomery County, announced that Artie Ellis, 16, was sentenced to life in prison, with all but 25 years suspended, for Murder in the First Degree today. Ellis pleaded guilty in front of Judge Dugan on March 15.
The victim, Ali Zare, was an adult acquaintance of Ellis’ girlfriend, Emily Geller. On May 10, 2009, Geller arranged to meet the victim. She lured him down a path into a wooded area adjacent to Bells Mill Road in Potomac. Geller and Ellis had plotted to hit the victim with a shovel and rob him. Unfortunately, after Ellis hit him with the shovel, the victim fell to the ground and struck his head on the pavement. The head wound proved fatal. Ellis and Geller stole the victim’s cash, credit card, cell phone and car. The teenagers then used the victim’s credit card, and witnesses saw her driving his car. Police arrested Geller and Ellis in October.