Teen's Sentencing On Hold Due To Storm

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ) -- The sentencing of a Howard County teen who pleaded guilty to killing her father is on hold tonight.

Blame it on the impending storm -- but before courts closed today, the judge heard from several witnesses who say the teen is not mentally fit for life behind bars.

Eight months after 17-year-old Morgan Lane Arthur pleaded guilty in the murder of her father, she faced a Howard County judge again.

This time it was determine whether she goes to jail or a state-run mental health center.

Inside the Howard County Circuit Court, her defense attorney Joe Murtha called a slew of psychiatrists and doctors to show that Arnold needs mental attention. All of them vouching that she struggles with Asperger's syndrome, depression and anxiety at the time of her father's murder.

"She is a seriously impaired young woman who has gotten better since the time of the offense," one person testified.

Another person said, "she's showed impairment in her mental health. She regretted her relationship with Mr. Bulmer."

Back in May 2013, Howard County detectives rushed to 58-year-old businessman and blogger Dennis Lane's home.

Inside they found him murdered -- stabbed to death.

police arrested his daughter and her then 19-year-old boyfriend Jason Bulmer.

Prosecutors say Arnold -- then 14, asked Bulmer to kill her father, and on the night of the crime, she unlocked a basement door so Bulmer could get in.

Bulmer pleaded guilty to the murder last year and got a 30-year-sentence.

Prosecutors believe Arnold was aware of her actions and want her behind bars.

They called several members of Lane's family to the stand.

"Dennis has a lot of living to do," his fiance Denise Geiger told the judge. "My life has been cruelly robbed."

One of Lane's sister's said: "he'd dead because of the choices Morgan made. I will always be haunted by Dennis' death."

Because of the impending storm, the courts closed at 1 p.m. -- in the middle of the hearing.

If the courthouse is still closed because of the snow on Tuesday, then the sentencing will resume on Wednesday.