BALTIMORE — James House, 19, was sentenced to serve two concurrent life sentences for the rape and murder of Jessica Gibson in September 2017. In September 2018, James House pled guilty to first-degree rape and first- degree murder. Before the judge delivered the sentence, impact statements from the victim’s family and friends were read and entered into the record.
Division Chief of Major Investigations, Patrick R. Seidel, prosecuted this case.
On September 13, 2017, police responded to the rear of the Port Discovery Children’s Museum for a report of an unresponsive person. There police found the body of 35 year-old Jessica Gibson hidden behind several large pallets. The victim’s pants were pulled down to her knees and there was evidence of trauma to her head, arms and body.
According to the medical examiner, the victim suffered significant trauma to her neck, including fractured cartilage in her throat, contusions, lacerations and abrasions around her head, face and along her arms, legs and torso. There was also evidence that the victim had suffered forced sexual abuse both before and after she was dead.
During the course of investigation, police identified the defendant, James House, through video surveillance, community tips, witness interviews, and ultimately DNA evidence. On September 16, 2017, police detained the defendant and interviewed him about this incident. Initially, House denied his involvement but later changed his story after being shown still photos taken from video surveillance of himself and the victim walking together right before she was murdered. House told detectives that the victim was a prostitute and that he was going to pay her to perform certain sexual acts, but when he realized he didn’t have enough money, he strangled her until she was unconscious. House then confessed that he pulled the victim’s pants down, raped her, retrieved the money he initially paid her and left. Following his confession, House was placed under arrest.
“I am grateful that a citizen chose to come forward and identify the suspect and that BPD was able to apprehend the Defendant so quickly as he is undisputedly a danger to the public’s safety,” said State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby. “This woman was viciously raped, murdered, raped again, robbed and then discarded. It is only right that the defendant spend every waking hour, for the rest of his life paying the price of his unspeakable violence.”
