Baltimore man indicted in killing and in carjacking conspiracy

A Baltimore man has been indicted on charges stemming from the killing of a 19-year-old man, the attempted murder of three people and a carjacking conspiracy, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office said.

The suspect, Tyshaun Williams, is charged in the death of Deontay Edwards and the attempted murders of three individuals on July 30. Williams also is charged in connection with a carjacking conspiracy in July and August and related crimes, according to the attorney general’s office.

An investigation by the Baltimore Police Department’s Robbery Homicide Section, with assistance from the attorney general’s Organized Crime Unit, found that Williams allegedly carjacked a woman at gunpoint in the 5300 block of Nelson Avenue on July 22, a news release said.

About a week later, on July 30, Williams and at least one other unidentified co-conspirator used the stolen car in a drive-by shooting near the corner of Rutland Avenue and East Lafayette Avenue in the Broadway East neighborhood of Baltimore, the attorney general’s office said.

The attorney general’s news release gave the following account of what unfolded:

Edwards and several other people were on the street near that corner when Williams first drove by. After being shot at, Edwards and three other people got in a vehicle to flee south on Rutland Avenue. Then, Williams and his co-conspirator circled around and chased the group while shooting at the car as they drove, causing it to crash into a parked car near Oliver Street.

As Edwards attempted to run, he was shot in the back and killed. Another person in the car was shot three times and survived. Following the shooting, detectives recovered about 24 shell casings from the scene that spanned three blocks, the attorney general’s office said.

Williams was arrested Aug. 2 while driving the carjacked vehicle used in the shooting, authorities said. During the arrest, detectives found a handgun with a loaded 30-round magazine, the attorney general’s office said.

Williams also is charged in connection with an armed carjacking July 12 in the 3200 block of Independence Street and an armed robbery July 25 near the 2300 block of Sinclair Lane, the authorities said.

“The brutality of the crimes of which this defendant is accused is shocking and bewildering: multiple carjackings, armed robbery, and murder,” Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a statement. “Several lives have been impacted by Williams’ alleged actions, and he is looking at the possibility of spending many years of his own life in prison if convicted. I am grateful for the incredible work of our Criminal Division, as well as our law enforcement partners, in this indictment.”

Williams has a court hearing set for April 3.