Four teens charged with murder
All held without bond for September shooting
Police have arrested and charged four teens with first-degree murder and attempted murder for a Sept. 25 shooting in Newburg that left one teen dead and another wounded.
The alleged gunman, Tyreq Kaylin Tilghman, 18, along with Kevin Averell Jones, 18, Shayna Imari Milstead, 17, and Talivah Laraih Salahuddin, 17, all from Waldorf, were apprehended on Wednesday and are currently being held without bond, according to court records.
Mason Cameron Atkins, 18, of Deale was pronounced dead on the scene after officers rendered aid and CPR, while the other 18-year-old victim was flown to a hospital suffering from a gunshot wound to his chest, but he survived, police reported.
This is the fifth homicide this year in Charles County.
Around 1:48 a.m. on Sept. 25, deputies of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 10400 block of Popes Creek Road for a reported shooting. The caller said that he and his friend were in a car and had been shot at a different location, the 9100 block of Mona Farm Place, according to police. Upon arrival, officers attempted to resuscitate the critically wounded passenger, but he died from his injuries.
Preliminary investigation indicated that the victims showed up uninvited to a bonfire party on Mona Farm Place, and they were asked to leave, which they did. The victims drove about a
half mile away, heading toward U.S. 301, and pulled over to the side of the road. The suspects also showed up to the party uninvited, and they, too, were asked to leave.
As the suspects drove by them in a black car, the two groups got into an argument and Tilghman and Jones exited their vehicle to confront Atkins, the other victim, and their friend seated in the back seat, charging documents indicate. Jones reportedly began punching Atkins, who was seated in the front passenger seat, multiple times through an open window, prompting Atkins to spray him with pepper spray.
Tilghman then allegedly raised a handgun and fired several shots into the car, striking Atkins in his neck, and the other victim in his chest. Hearing the gunshots, the victim seated in the back exited the car and ran away. Not realizing at first that he had been shot, the driver fled the scene and called 911 as Atkins bled profusely and was unresponsive.
Detectives later obtained surveillance video from a nearby gas station and interviewed a witness which indicated that around 1:50 a.m., a black car pulled into the gas pumps and a black female entered the store and purchased two water bottles, court records show. The witness said she saw two black males then exit the car, appearing to be in distress from some type of substance on their face, and pour the water onto their faces.
The female seen in the video was later identified by a school resource officer, who recognized her as Salahuddin, a senior at St. Charles High School. She was then interviewed by detectives who identified Milstead as the driver, and Tilghman and Jones were subsequently identified as the other passengers.
A preliminary hearing date for Milstead and Salahuddin has been scheduled for Oct. 26, per court records. Hearing dates for Tilghman and Jones are pending.