State v. Travis Edward Paschal Wood, C-08-CR-22-000688
LA PLATA, MD—Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Thursday, January 8, 2026, Charles County Circuit Court Judge H. James West sentenced Travis Edward Paschal Wood, 36, of Waldorf, to Life plus an additional 15 years in prison for the First-Degree Murder of his wife, Shawnda Nicole Wood, and Use of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime of Violence in connection with the murder.
On December 9, 2022, Wood and his female cousin entered the Charles County Sheriff’s Office District Three Station in Waldorf to request a welfare check at Wood’s residence. Wood told an investigator that he had been suicidal the night before, requested a welfare check at his home, and asked for his lawyer, but did not provide further details.
Officers responded to the 2300 block of Tawny Drive and entered the home through an unlocked front door. During a search of the residence, officers discovered a silver and black handgun on the couple’s bed, as well as the deceased victim, who had suffered a single gunshot wound to the back of her head.
An investigation revealed that on the night before the shooting, Wood and the victim went out to eat and shop with their three young daughters before returning home to put the children to bed. Wood and the victim later went to a hookah lounge, had drinks, and returned home around 2 a.m. At home, the victim confronted Wood for urinating on the floor outside of the bathroom and told him that he needed to be out of the house by the weekend. While the victim lay in bed asleep, Wood retrieved his registered firearm and shot her one time in the back of her head.
At approximately 8:30 a.m. on December 9th, Wood woke his daughters and told them they were going to visit their grandmother and instructed them not to wake their mother or go into her bedroom. Wood dropped his children off at their grandmother’s (his mother’s) house. After dropping them off, Wood remained at his residence for a few hours before going back to his mother’s house. He then confessed to his mother that he shot and killed his wife. After his confession, Woods went back to his house for a period of time before eventually going to the police station.
Wood’s DNA was later found on the firearm used during the murder.
During sentencing, Assistant State’s Attorney John Stackhouse told the judge that the victim “left behind grandparents, a mom and dad, sisters – obviously she left behind her three little girls – cousins, uncles, and aunts. It’s generational trauma that [the defendant] has caused.”
He furthered, “These three little girls had to be taken out of their house, school, and neighborhood. They had to be taken away from all their friends. All those things are a result of his actions. Their lives have been changed forever. [The victim] never got the opportunity to do Girl Scouts with her girls, see them play sports, go on their first date, graduate high school or college, get married, or have kids. All of that was taken from her by the person who is supposed to protect his wife and kids. Little girls need their mother. All those things were taken from Shawnda and her kids too. The level of betrayal is immeasurable in this case. This has the added trauma of three little girls trying to wrap their mind around the fact that their father murdered their mother while they were asleep in their house.”
Asking for life plus 20 years in prison, he told the Honorable Judge West that Wood “gave his family a life sentence.”
Before sentencing Wood to life plus 15 years, the Honorable Judge West stated that “The loss is tremendous. It was done in the coldest of blood and I don’t understand it. The level of violence was extreme. The callousness that followed is rarely seen. The damage done to two families was excessive and permanent.”
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