Maryland

Life sentences for 4 in slaying of Md. man held for $7,000 ransom – WTOP News

Published

1 year ago

May 14, 2023

Life sentences for 4 in slaying of Md. man held for ,000 ransom – WTOP News

Four men from D.C. and Maryland have been sentenced to life in prison for murder and other charges related to the 2018 kidnapping and killing of a Bowie, Maryland, man.

Darin Moore, Jr. 29, of Bowie, and the three other defendants from D.C. — Gabriel Brown, 33; John Sweeney, 29; and James Taylor, 33 — were all involved in the kidnapping of 28-year-old Andre Simmons Jr., according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C.

Officials said the group held Simmons for ransom before killing him.

On June 19, 2018, Simmons was abducted at gunpoint, bound with zip ties and forced into a vehicle by Moore and Sweeney in Maryland, according to the investigation conducted by the FBI Washington Field Office and D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.

The investigation found that several ransom calls were made from Taylor’s phone to the victim’s family over the next few hours. Simmons’ family delivered $7,000 in cash to a drop location, as instructed by the kidnappers, and Brown picked up the money, according to officials.

According to officials, the defendants shot Simmons 19 times and left his zip-tied body in an alley off the 600 block of Atlantic Street SE just over an hour after they picked up the ransom money. The four men then met up in Capitol Heights, Maryland, to divide up the proceeds of the ransom.

Moore, Brown and Sweeney were each sentenced to life in prison for a kidnapping resulting in death; 45 years in prison on counts of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and first-degree premeditated murder and felony murder. Taylor was sentenced to life in prison for a kidnapping resulting in death and 45 years in prison for felony murder.

The four men were each arrested in late 2018 and early 2019. They’ve all been in custody since their arrests.

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Maryland

Student shot in Joppatowne, Maryland high school

Published

4 hours ago

September 6, 2024

Press Room

Student shot in Joppatowne, Maryland high school

One teen shot another during a dispute in a Maryland high school bathroom Friday in what authorities called an isolated incident.

The victim, a 15-year-old student at Joppatowne High School, was in serious condition after being airlifted to a hospital, the Harford County Public Schools said in a news release, citing information it received from the county sheriff’s department.

A 16-year-old student whom police identified as the shooter fled shortly afterward but was caught minutes later nearby, according to the news release. Officials said no information would be released immediately about the weapon, which had not been recovered.

The state’s attorney has said the suspect will be charged, the release said, citing Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler.

Shortly after the shooting, the sheriff’s office asked people to avoid the area, but emphasized that the confrontation was an “isolated incident, not an active shooter.” A parent-student reunification center was established at a nearby church. More than 100 personnel responded to the high school about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Baltimore, Gahler said.

The fight happened two days after a shooter whom authorities identified as a 14-year-old student killed four people at a high school outside Atlanta. Wednesday’s attack renewed debate about safe storage laws for guns and had parents wondering how to talk to their children about school shootings and trauma.

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Maryland

How to watch, listen and stream Michigan State football at Maryland on Saturday

Published

11 hours ago

September 6, 2024

Press Room

How to watch, listen and stream Michigan State football at Maryland on Saturday

Michigan State football heads out east looking to open Big Ten play with a big-time victory.

The Spartans will play at Maryland on Saturday afternoon in their first conference game of the year. Michigan State enters this matchup with a 1-0 record on the year following last week’s win over Florida Atlantic. Maryland is also 1-0 thus far on the season, picking up a blowout non-conference win over UConn last week.

Maryland enters this game as a more than touchdown favorite depending on the sports book. The Terps have won the last two meetings between these two schools.

Below are the details for Saturday’s matchup between the Spartans and Terps:

Game time: 3:30 p.m. ET on September 7

Location: SECU Stadium (College Park, Md.)

TV: Big Ten Network

Live Stream: fuboTV (try it free)

Listen: Spartan Media Network or MSUSpartans.com

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on Twitter @RobertBondy5.

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