Cedric Dion Callaway pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on the fourth day of his jury trial in Anne Arundel County.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland man was ordered to serve 40 years in prison for murdering his wife, closing a case in which investigators said surveillance video, physical evidence and Callaway’s own statements contradicted the robbery account he initially gave police.

Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Christine Celeste sentenced 51-year-old Cedric Dion Callaway to life in prison with all but 40 years suspended for the May 2025 killing of his wife, 44-year-old Sarah Elizabeth Bundy. The sentence was imposed Sept. 15, about a month after Callaway pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on Aug. 13, the fourth day of his jury trial. The plea ended the trial before jurors were asked to decide the case and established Callaway’s criminal responsibility for Bundy’s death.

The life sentence reflects the penalty structure Maryland law provides for first-degree murder. State law calls for life imprisonment or, when additional legal requirements are met, life without the possibility of parole for a first-degree murder conviction. In Callaway’s case, Celeste imposed life but suspended the portion beyond 40 years. The Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office announced the sentence and described the killing as an act of domestic violence. The office did not detail additional sentencing conditions in its public announcement.

The homicide investigation began shortly after 9 a.m. on May 23, 2025, when Anne Arundel County police officers and firefighters were called to the area of Alley 79 and Disney Avenue in Brooklyn Park. They found a woman dead in the alley. Police initially did not release her name while detectives worked to establish her identity. Authorities later identified her as Bundy, a Curtis Bay resident. Prosecutors said tires had been placed over her body in what investigators considered an attempt to conceal it. Officers observed significant injuries to her head, face and neck, and the body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy.

Detectives began reviewing surveillance footage from cameras near the alley. According to prosecutors, video from the early morning hours showed a woman matching Bundy’s appearance with a man dressed in dark clothing and a black hooded sweatshirt. Investigators said the man guided Bundy toward the alley where she was later found. Police treated the man as a person of interest while homicide detectives and evidence technicians continued working at the scene. A later local news report citing charging documents said a witness heard a woman shouting words to the effect of “I love you, don’t hurt me” around the time the pair entered the area. That account came from the charging documents rather than the state’s later sentencing release.

The investigation took another turn while detectives were still processing the homicide scene. Baltimore police contacted Anne Arundel County investigators and told them they already had Callaway in custody on an unrelated matter. Callaway had told Baltimore officers that he and Bundy had been robbed in the same general area the previous night. He said he had been struck with a gun and that Bundy remained missing. According to a report based on the charging documents, Callaway said he escaped and fled on foot while leaving Bundy behind.

Detectives said several details did not match that account. Investigators determined that Callaway resembled the man shown with Bundy in the surveillance footage. They also said they found no injuries on him that appeared consistent with his claim that he had been pistol-whipped. Instead, detectives observed what they described as apparent blood on his hands and beneath his fingernails. Authorities took Callaway to the Anne Arundel County Police Criminal Investigations Division for an interview as the homicide inquiry focused increasingly on him.

Prosecutors said Callaway made an unsolicited statement after arriving at the investigations office. He remarked that he was going to “prison” and said he would kill himself if he was being charged with murder. Investigators considered the timing notable because, according to the state’s attorney’s office, detectives had not yet told him Bundy was dead. The later prosecution relied on the statement as part of the wider body of evidence gathered in the case. The public records released by authorities do not provide a complete transcript of Callaway’s interview, so it is not clear what else he told investigators at that stage.

Additional surveillance video allowed detectives to reconstruct more of the couple’s movements before Bundy’s death. Prosecutors said footage from a laundromat at 716 Church Street showed Callaway and Bundy together until about 12:15 a.m. on May 23. The two then left and walked toward Sixth Street. Roughly 75 minutes later, at about 1:30 a.m., video showed Callaway returning alone from the direction of Alley 79. He was carrying a jacket and a crossbody bag. Prosecutors said Bundy had been seen wearing that same bag earlier. The footage also showed Callaway putting the jacket in a trash can outside the laundromat.

Police announced on May 24, 2025, that investigators had identified Bundy and had obtained an arrest warrant charging her husband with her murder. The department’s initial update listed Callaway as 49 at the time. A Maryland Judiciary filing report later showed that an Anne Arundel County grand jury case was filed against Cedric Dion Callaway on June 20, 2025, charging him with first-degree murder. Later court and prosecution records listed him as 51 at the time of his 2026 plea and sentencing.

The case proceeded toward a jury trial in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court. Prosecutors began presenting evidence, but the proceeding did not reach a verdict. On Aug. 13, during the fourth day of trial, Callaway pleaded guilty to first-degree murder before Celeste, who was presiding over the case. State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess characterized the plea as a recognition that the trial was not going in Callaway’s favor. She also said the prosecution considered the killing a deliberate act and thanked Assistant State’s Attorney Katherine D. Anthony, who handled the case.

The guilty plea changed the remaining question from whether prosecutors could prove Callaway committed first-degree murder to what sentence the court would impose. Celeste scheduled sentencing for Sept. 15. By accepting the plea, Callaway admitted the first-degree murder charge, removing the need for the jury to make a finding of guilt. Maryland law defines first-degree murder to include a deliberate, premeditated and willful killing, along with several other specified circumstances. Authorities did not release a complete transcript of the plea hearing or sentencing proceeding with their public statements, limiting the available account of arguments offered by the defense or statements made by Callaway in court.

At sentencing, Celeste imposed the life term with all but 40 years suspended. Leitess called Bundy’s killing a “brutal, calculated act of domestic violence” and said the prison term held Callaway accountable while acknowledging that no sentence could undo Bundy’s death. She said the office’s thoughts remained with Bundy’s loved ones. The state’s attorney’s announcement did not publish victim-impact statements or provide additional details about Bundy’s family, and those details have not been added to the public account without verification.

The sentence brought the principal criminal prosecution to a close more than a year after police found Bundy in the Brooklyn Park alley. The record now includes Callaway’s guilty plea to first-degree murder and the court’s sentence of life with all but 40 years suspended. The investigation was led by the Anne Arundel County Police Department Homicide Unit, and Anthony represented the state.

Author note: Last updated November 6, 2026.