After a three-day trial, a jury found a 21-year-old Indian Head man guilty of armed robbery and an additional 12 related charges in Charles County Circuit Court Wednesday.
In May 2017, Tyrel Javonte Adams, 21, of Indian Head was charged with armed robbery, use of a firearm to commit a violent crime, first-degree assault and various other related charges.
On April 18, 2017, at approximately 5 a.m., Charles County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the Dash-In on Crain Highway in White Plains for the report of an armed robbery.
According to the sheriff’s office, four masked men entered the store and demanded money from the clerk. After obtaining the cash register, one of the suspects fired two shots from a shotgun, striking the ceiling and a display case. The suspects fled in a minivan, which was found a short time later on fire.
During the course of the investigation, detectives identified and arrested all four suspects, who were held in the Charles County Detention Center.
In addition to Adams, Corey Anthony Kelton, 25, of Marbury, Anthony Tilden Walls, 24, of Indian Head and Nathan Ellsworth Proctor Jr., 34, of Bryans Road were all named as suspects involved in the robbery.
Back in November, Kelton, who was named as the gunman in the robbery, pleaded guilty to two of the 14 counts he was charged with: armed robbery and firearm use to commit a violent crime. On Jan. 11, Kelton was sentenced to 10 years of incarceration.
Walls also pleaded guilty to one of the 14 counts he was charged with: conspiracy to commit robbery. His sentencing is scheduled in June. Along with Adams, Proctor opted for a trial, which is also scheduled in June.
On Monday, Feb. 12, Adams’ case went to trial in front of Judge Amy J. Bragunier.
Assistant state’s attorneys Tiffany Campbell and Jermey Widder called 10 witnesses to the stand on the first day of the trial.
During opening statements, Campbell told the jury that on April 18, 2017, four masked men entered the Dash-In in White Plains and robbed it of cash and cigarettes, while one of the men stood at the door holding a shotgun. She told the jury that the state has evidence finding Adams guilty including video surveillance, DNA, latex gloves, clothing, shoes and other items.
“The state will ask that you find [the defendant] guilty of armed robbery and other related charges,” Campbell said to the jury.
Representing Adams, attorney Laticia Jones told the jury that the state’s evidence will not show that Adams is guilty. She said that the clothing the state is claiming to be evidence was found at another person’s home and that they are trying to convict him for knowing and being familiar with the co-defendants in this case.
“You will be able to see for yourself that my client was not involved,” Jones told the jury Monday.
The first witness the state called to the stand was the Dash-In employee, who was working at the time of the robbery. The employee testified that at approximately 5 a.m. April 18, 2017, four men pulled up in a grey van while he and a customer were outside smoking a cigarette. He told the court that the men ordered him and the customer inside the store. He then was told to get down on the floor behind the cash register.
“I thought all of them had guns,” the employee said. “I was so scared.”
The employee said he could not remember what exactly happened after he got on the floor because he was “in shock.”
Prosecutors then showed the surveillance video of the event. All of the four men were wearing masks and latex gloves as they entered the store. One of the men had a shotgun and stayed by the door with the customer on the ground. The employee was on the ground behind the register while two men grabbed packs of cigarettes and one ripped the drawer out of the register. All of the men walked out of the store, and the man with the gun fired off shots before leaving.
The second witness called to testify was the customer inside the store at the time of the robbery. His testimony of what happened complied with the video.
The former owner of the Dash-In was also called to the stand Monday. He told the court he went to the store following the robbery and saw that the entire drawer of the register was missing, which contained about $300; also missing was about 10 packs of cigarettes. The owner said that the two shots that were fired inside the store damaged the ceiling as well as a cold case for food, and all of the food and drinks that were in it.
Pictures of the damages were also shown to the court.
Charles County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Frank Tona, who was on patrol that morning, testified that he responded to the robbery and took the photos at the scene.
Pfc. Justin Alpert and Officer Syvestre testified that they responded to a burned out van on Padgett Road, just 2 miles away from the Dash-In. They told the court that blue latex gloves were found at the scene and DNA was also recovered.
Sheriff’s Cpl. Baker testified that he arrested Adams on a warrant on June 16, 2017.
Noelle Gehrman, with the sheriff’s office Forensic Science Unit, testified that she collected evidence at co-defendant Proctor’s home on May 23, 2017. Gehrman said that she collected a jacket, two pairs of camouflage pants, a black mask, latex gloves, a duffle bag, two pairs of black boots, Proctor’s ID and a black mask found on the side of a road behind the home.
On Tuesday, in an orange jumpsuit, co-defendant Anthony Walls was called to testify by the state.
In a still shot of the surveillance video, Walls pointed out and named all four masked men, including himself and Adams as the man with the orange mask covering his face and camouflage pants.
Walls said he was walking down the street around 4 or 5 a.m. on April 18, 2017. He said a van pulled up with an unknown driver and co-defendants, Adams, Proctor and Kelton. He got in the van, thinking they were going to go “chill or smoke,” he said. Walls said he realized they were going to commit a robbery when he saw the masks and latex gloves. He said on the way to the Dash-In, they made a plan of what everyone was going to do during the robbery.
Walls told the court that the van was pulled up to the front of the White Plains Dash-In and they all got out. Walls said that the ‘role’ he played was holding a duffle bag while Adams put cigarettes in it. He said that after the robbery they got into the van and went somewhere in the “cut.” They then got into a separate car after they set the van on fire. Walls said afterwards they all went to a house somewhere in Prince George’s County.
Walls told the court that he did not receive any of the money or the cigarettes that were stolen that night. He stated that he wished that Adams would have taken a plea, so he would not have to testify against him.
Jones questioned Walls about him having a feud with Adams and Proctor over theft; however, Walls denied it.
Angela Specer, a forensic scientist with the Maryland State Police, testified that she tested several latex gloves found where the van was burned, as well as swabs from the van’s backseat that was removed, and oral swabs from Walls, Proctor, Kelton and Adams.
Specer stated that tests were inconclusive except for two gloves; one, which revealed the DNA from a firefighter on the scene of the fire, and the other, which revealed the DNA of co-defendant Kelton.
Det. Gregory with the CCSO Criminal Investigations Unit also testified on Tuesday. He told the court that when looking at the surveillance video during his investigation of the robbery he took notice of the clothing and shoes that the suspects were wearing as well as the height and build of the suspects. In this case, he took interest in the orange face mask, the two-toned grey and black jacket and the boots with the yellow strip on the soles.
The court listened to about an hour and a half interview between Gregory and Walls, who was incarcerated at the time for another offense.
In the recording, Walls admitted his involvement in the robbery within a few minutes; however, it took him longer to tell Gregory who else was involved and captured on surveillance. Within about 45 minutes of the recording, Walls pointed out the four-masked men as himself with the duffle bag, Adams with the orange around his face, Kelton with the gun and Proctor with the cash register.
Jones argued that Gregory came into the interview with a motive of having Walls name Adams, which Gregory denied.
Gregory told the court that after the interview with Walls, he then got a search warrant for Proctor’s home, where he and other officers collected evidence, which was presented by the state in this case. Adams’ Facebook account was also investigated by detectives.
The state argued that Gregory did not charge the defendants on Walls’ statements alone. Gregory testified that he had to establish probable cause, which was to recover evidence and talk to other defendants and people involved.
The state rested around 4 p.m. Tuesday.
After submitting a document of co-defendant Kelton’s plea agreement into evidence, the defense rested around 11 a.m. Wednesday.
During the state’s closing argument, Widder went over all of the evidence they had to prove that Adams was involved in the robbery. This included the latex gloves, the shoes with the yellow striped bottom, the duffle bag, camouflage pants and the grey and black jacket.
Widder reminded the jury that during Walls’ interview in May 2017, he mentioned Corey Kelton being involved in the robbery, and it was not until August 2017 that results came back with Kelton’s DNA.
“Anthony Walls got too many details right [to be lying],” Widder said.
Widder also added that in the surveillance video the suspect wearing the orange face mask, alleged to be Adams, is shown to be right in the middle between 5 and 6 feet tall, which matches Adams’ actual height.
“He needs to be held accountable,” Widder told the jury.
During the defense’s closing argument, Jones questioned the states’ theory because the clothing that they claimed to be worn by Adams were never tested for DNA. She also told the jury that the state or witnesses never told exactly how other suspects in the case were excluded from the investigation.
“I would suggest that something was done wrong and they needed someone to blame,” Jones said.
She also told the jury that Gregory had a motive of getting Walls to name Adams in his initial interview. Jones argued that Walls was “not credible” in his testimony or interview and that he had a motive to lie in order to receive a lesser sentence.
After about an hour and a half of deliberating the jury revealed a guilty verdict of all 13 counts. Adams was convicted of robbery, possession of a shotgun with disqualifying crime, robbery with a dangerous weapon, use of shotgun in the commission of a felony or crime of violence, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of use of a shotgun in the commission of a felony or crime of violence related to the first-degree assault [of two victims], theft, conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon and two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree assault against two victims.
Adams’ sentencing date has been scheduled for April 25.
According to Bragunier, Adams already had “30 years of backup time” for violating his probation. Prior to this case, Adams had been convicted of two separate counts of second-degree assault and conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary and theft.
The Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office reported that Adams is facing more than 100 years of incarceration.
Originally Posted on The Maryland Independent:
http://www.somdnews.com/independent/crime_and_courts/jury-finds-indian-head-man-guilty-of-armed-robbery/article_f95f3f9b-01c5-5692-97c7-433b847d5552.html
