Two teenagers have been charged with murder in connection with a shooting death near a Howard County gas station in mid-October, and police said they found the gun used in the killing during another investigation.
Shamond Isiah Steward, 18, of Baltimore, is charged first- and second-degree murder, first-degree assault and firearms charges. A second person, a 17-year-old boy from Baltimore, is charged as an adult, first- and second-degree murder, first-degree assault and firearms charges. His name is not being released because of his age.
Howard County Police Chief Gregory Der said Tuesday the arrests came after a gun used in the shooting was located during a search warrant in a separate robbery and firearms investigation. That probe resulted in the arrests of three teenagers and one adult, Der said.
“Today’s announcement is a demonstration of the commitment, creativity, strategic thinking, and resource-sharing among our investigative team,” Der said. “As a result of these resources, cases like these can be linked and investigated as a shared effort to solve violent crimes and arrest those responsible.”
The teens are charged with shooting and killing 24-year-old Dylan Migel Perez of Baltimore on Oct. 16.
A man found at the scene where gunshots were reported in the 6000 block of Foreland Garth near an Exxon station in Columbia was taken to the hospital and has been released.
A few minutes after police found the first man, two additional people appeared at the Howard County Medical Center. One person, Perez, died as a result of his injuries. The other victim, a 22-year-old male, was treated and released.
Police said the shooting was not random.
In a separate case, detectives investigating a July 16 robbery on Melba Road in Ellicott City served search warrants at multiple locations in Columbia on Oct. 19, Der said. During the search, they found multiple weapons, including privately made firearms known as PMFs or “ghost guns,” in varies stages of assembly.
It was determined one of those firearms had been used in the triple shooting that resulted in the death of Perez, Der said.
Five people have been charged in the robbery and illegal firearms cases. The identities of people under the age of 18 are sealed:
- Male, 16, of Columbia, possession of unregulated privately made firearms
- Male, 17, of Columbia, robbery, assault, illegal possession of multiple firearms
- Male 17, of Columbia, robbery, assault, possession of unregulated privately made firearms
- Kevin Mobley, 46, of Columbia, illegal possession of multiple firearms, released on $50,000 bond
