Department of Justice

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Kiara Haynes, age 37, of Baltimore, today to 25 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for two counts of aiding and abetting the use and discharge of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime and crime of violence, causing the death of Jennifer Jeffrey and her seven-year-old child. Haynes has been detained since her arrest in Texas on June 18, 2021, on a related federal criminal complaint.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department; and Chief Mark K. Lewis of the Cambridge Police Department.

“The murders of Jennifer Jeffrey and her child were a senseless tragedy,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron. “Not only did Kiara Haynes have opportunities to prevent the murders of Jennifer Jeffrey and her child, she lied to investigators about what happened after the crimes were committed. If you threaten or harm a witness, especially a child, the full weight of federal law enforcement will be harnessed to hold you accountable and bring you to justice, no matter how long it takes.”

“Kiara Haynes had every opportunity to try and stop her boyfriend from murdering a little boy and his mother, knowing that that was part of his robbery plan. Instead, she supplied Andre Briscoe with the murder weapon, in complete disregard for human life,” said ATF Baltimore Field Division Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby. “Nothing can ever replace the loss of a loved one, but we hope that this sentencing today gives the family of Jennifer Jeffrey and her son a sense of justice. ATF will continue in our mission to stop trigger-pullers, protect victims and witness, and help create safer communities in Baltimore.”

According to Haynes’s plea agreement, Haynes helped her co-defendant, Andre Briscoe, with whom she was romantically involved, plan to steal heroin from Jennifer Jeffrey, a long-time friend of Haynes. On May 26, 2015, Briscoe arrived at Haynes’s apartment from his home in Cambridge. During the course of the evening, Briscoe explained that Jeffrey had heroin and he planned to rob and kill Jeffrey to get the heroin. Briscoe confirmed to Haynes his intention to kill not only Jeffrey, but her minor child if the child were present at the time of the robbery. Haynes offered to help Briscoe get a gun.

Haynes subsequently contacted a relative whom she knew to have a gun. In exchange for allowing Haynes to use the gun, Haynes promised to give the relative some of the stolen heroin and give his gun back. Haynes and Briscoe met with the relative’s brother, who gave Haynes a .45 caliber firearm. Haynes and Briscoe returned to Haynes’s apartment with the gun.

Later that night, as detailed in the plea agreement, Briscoe left Haynes’s apartment to go hang out with Jeffrey at Jeffrey’s nearby home. When Haynes woke up later and realized that Briscoe had not returned, Haynes got upset. Between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. Haynes walked over to Jeffrey’s home and began banging on the door and yelling for Briscoe to come out. Jeffrey’s relative opened the door and told Haynes that children were in the house asleep and that Haynes should go home, which she eventually did.

According to Haynes’s plea agreement, at approximately 7:23 a.m., Briscoe walked back from Jeffrey’s residence to Haynes’s apartment. Briscoe told Haynes that Jeffrey had shown him a large amount of heroin and that Jeffrey’s child did not feel well and had not gone to school that day. At approximately 11:41 a.m. Haynes overheard Briscoe on the phone with Jeffrey, who was talking about making breakfast for Briscoe. When Briscoe got off the phone, he retrieved the .45-caliber gun from Haynes’s bedroom and told Haynes that he was going to Jeffrey’s to get the drugs.

When Briscoe returned to Haynes’s apartment, Haynes asked him what had happened. Briscoe told Haynes that Jeffrey and her child were dead and gave Haynes a bag of heroin as her “cut” of Jeffrey’s drugs. As detailed in the plea agreement, Haynes returned the gun, along with the heroin given to her by Briscoe, as payment for the use of the gun.

On May 28, 2015, after a receiving a call for assistance, the Baltimore Police Department discovered Jeffrey and her child dead in their home.

In her plea agreement, Haynes further admitted that she lied to investigators and prosecutors about these events on five occasions between May 2015 and November 2020.

Andre Ricardo Briscoe, a/k/a “Poo”, age 38, of Baltimore and Cambridge, Maryland, was convicted by a federal jury on June 8, 2022, for federal drug distribution charges, use of a firearm to commit murder in relation to drug trafficking crime, killing a witness to prevent communication with law enforcement, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Briscoe faces a mandatory life sentence for killing a witness and for using a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime resulting in death, related to the murder of Jeffrey’s child. Judge Bennett has scheduled Briscoe’s sentencing for September 20, 2022 at 11:00 a.m.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF, the FBI, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Cambridge Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Budlow, who prosecuted the case, and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael C. Hanlon and Abigail Ticse for their assistance.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.