A Cape St. Claire man convicted of crushing and killing a 63-year-old mother of three with his boat on the Magothy River is facing new charges after allegedly operating a boat while on probation and not installing an interlock system on his car.

Following a six-day trial in October 2023, Hank Edds Jr. pleaded guilty to criminally negligent manslaughter and reckless endangerment, accepting responsibility for the hit-and-run death of Laura Slattery, of Pasadena.

However, on the stand before his conviction and in the weeks after, Eddsattempted to separate himself from his actions.

He testified that at the time of the crash, he thought there was “no harm, no foul” before fleeing the scene and later, asking a judge to lessen his 18-month sentence, said he “probably should not have” taken the plea deal in “20/ 20” hindsight.

“Nobody forced me to,” he wrote. “But it was a rushed decision.”

Since the beginning of the month, law enforcement officials have levied several traffic violations against Edds, alleging he drove with a suspended license and operated a vessel — both of which the court ordered him not to do.

According to court documents and prosecutors, after receiving several tips, a Maryland Natural Resources Police officer observed Edds drive a vessel at a Cape St. Claire marina, the same marina he went to after the 2022 hit-and-run crash.

On Thursday, Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Richard Trunnell said the case reminded him of a classmate he knew growing up who killed someone but continued to drink and drive. He said he and his friends felt the boy had taken “a bridge too far” and suggested Edds was doing the same.

The judge said it was “clear” to him that Edds “doesn’t care that he killed someone and injured someone else,” ordering the 51-year-old to remain in jail without bail until a Jan. 6 violation of probation hearing.

Slattery was struck July 3, 2022, on her way home from a fireworks show with her husband on the Eastern Shore. The couple, who were married for 41 years, anchored just north of Cape St. Claire to catch another display when Edds’ boat collided with theirs and landed on top of them.

Witnesses testified that Edds’ boat had been moving so fast when it overtook Slattery’s that his bow was pointed toward the sky. A picture of the mother’s sweater presented at trial showed a streak of blue paint along its front and shoulder.

Brian Slattery Sr. shoved Edds’ boat off of his wife and as the vessel sat idle in the river, Edds yelled at the husband for not having his boat’s lights on. That argument later became the crux of Edds’ defense and made the case “extremely difficult,” said Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess.

It took investigators a month to arrest Edds, a period prosecutor Carolynn Grammas described as “forever” due to a series of misleading statements from the defendant’s neighbors.

Edds’ trial included the testimony of several boaters who watched the July 3 fireworks, including the victim’s husband. After a lunch break during Edds’ testimony, however, he pleaded guilty.

Anne Arundel Circuit Judge J. Michael Wachs, who presided over the initial trial but has since retired, said it was “shameful” how Edds avoided responsibility in the crash.

“Sometimes what you do after an accident reflects the way you felt during,” Wachs said during last year’s sentencing.

Earlier this month, law enforcement filed a violation of probation notice through the county’s circuit court system, detailing two reports of Edds boating.

Defense attorney David Putzi, who did not represent Edds last year, asked the judge Thursday to consider house arrest for his client, a Marines Corps veteran who lives with his ailing parents.

Trunnell said there was “no lesser way” to ensure Edds wouldn’t violate the law or his probation again other than incarceration.

“We understand and respect the court’s decision today,” Putzi said after the hearing. “Once all new accusations are adjudicated, hopefully a resolution in the violation of probation case will become clearer.”

For each violation involving driving with a suspended or revoked license, Edds could face one year in prison. The other traffic violations have lesser sentences. For instance, a conviction related to the car’s interlock system could carry a 60-day punishment.

Grammas, who timed Edds’ Facebook photos with the marina’s security footage to uncover alleged violations, said she would be filing additional charges against the defendant.

“While you may look at this and think it isn’t a big deal,” Grammas told the judge, “it is.”

Have a news tip? Contact Luke Parker at lparker@baltsun.com, 410-725-6214, or on X @lparkernews.