Harrod plans to appeal verdict in killing of Naval Academy mother
Less than a week after he was handed three life sentences, Angelo Harrod signaled his intent Wednesday to appeal his guilty verdict in the 2021 Pleasant Street shooting that rocked Annapolis during one of its most festive summer events.
Harrod, 31, of Annapolis, was sentenced Feb. 24 for his part in the June 2021 shooting that killed Michelle Cummings, a 57-yearold mother from Houston who was in town celebrating her son’s induction into the Naval Academy.
In addition to filing a notice of appeal Wednesday, the Annapolis man also requested a modification to his lengthy sentence, which was described in a filing as “extremely severe.” No hearing dates have been scheduled for either of Harrod’s requests.
Cummings’ death accounted for one of the three life sentences imposed by Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Pamela K. Alban, one that came without the possibility of parole. The others stemmed from two attempted first-degree murder convictions.
In a two-week trial in December, prosecutors successfully argued that Harrod “stalked and hunted” a Chevrolet Trailblazer on the night of June 28, 2021. Breonna Barnes and R.J. Atwell were parked at the end of Pleasant Street soon after an ice cream date when Harrod and a second, unnamed gunman fired on the SUV.
Several bullets struck the Trailblazer, while another passed through a wooded area to the patio of The Graduate hotel, where Cummings was sitting with her husband Leonard “Truck” Cummings Jr. and other Naval Academy families. She was struck in the chest and died shortly after midnight.
Barnes and Atwell were uninjured.
Harrod was arrested on an outstanding warrant less than 24 hours after the shooting. No motive was ever established.
Barnes appeared before Alban during Friday’s sentencing hearing, telling the court she “never fully came back from that night.” She described her life as one rooted in fear, afraid of what might be following her and when the next attack may happen.
When she thought of Cummings, she began to cry. She called the mother “a beautiful, loving woman” — a sentiment reinforced that day by the heartfelt accounts of her husband and her daughter Jordan Cummings — and said she felt responsible for her death.
“I would take her place if I could,” Barnes told the judge. “It should have been me. She was innocent.”
When issuing her sentence, Alban said she had never been so affected by the testimony of a grieving family and told Barnes that her guilt was misplaced.
The judge also said she has “no doubt” that Harrod was responsible for the fatal shooting.
Defense attorney Howard Cardin contended, however, that his client did not fire the bullet that killed Cummings. Cardin took issue with the fact that the second gunman was neither named nor charged and argued that some of the state’s evidence was unfairly secured.
Alban, however, dismissed the attorney’s motion Friday for a new trial, saying Cardin’s complaints were mentioned and litigated during the December proceedings.
In this week’s filing, Cardin indicated that Harrod’s appeal will be handled by a public defender because his client is “indigent” and can no longer afford the attorney’s services.
Cardin was not available Thursday for comment.