WASHINGTON POST – One of the men accused of killing an off-duty Maryland state trooper outside a Forestville restaurant early Friday will continue to be held without bond, a judge ruled Tuesday.
After a brief hearing in the Upper Marlboro courthouse, District Court Judge Jean S. Baron cited the “egregious” nature of the allegations against Anthony A. Milton II, 28, who is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of Trooper Wesley Brown. Brown was off-duty, working as a security guard at an Applebee’s when he was killed.
Milton is accused of providing the gun used to kill Brown. Investigators believe he gave the semiautomatic handgun to his friend, Cyril C. Williams, 28, who is accused of being the gunman. Williams, who also has been charged with first-degree murder, has not appeared in court in Prince George’s.
Brown had ejected Williams from the restaurant for urinating inside and possibly for disputing his bill, according to law enforcement sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing. Williams was so enraged that he returned about 30 minutes later and opened fire on Brown, who was outside talking on his cellphone, they said.
Williams fired six times, investigators said. One bullet struck the trooper in his ankle, and another made its way past Brown’s bulletproof vest and pierced his heart, authorities said.
Brown never had a chance to draw his weapon, investigators said. He stumbled back into the restaurant, mortally wounded.
During the brief hearing, a representative from the county’s pre-trial services division asked the judge to order Milton moved from the county jail to another detention facility outside Prince George’s. The representative did not say why she believed Milton should be moved. But in June 2008, a man accused of killing a county police officer was found unconscious in his cell in the Upper Marlboro facility, and efforts to revive him failed.
An assistant state medical examiner ruled the death of Ronnie L. White a homicide; a state police investigation concluded White could have killed himself. No one has been charged in White’s death.
Assistant State’s Attorney Carol Coderre said she saw no reason for Milton to be moved, and Baron agreed.
Although Williams has a long history of convictions for selling crack and marijuana, Milton’s most serious conviction came in August 2004, when a circuit court judge in Prince George’s sentenced him to four days in jail and supervised probation after he pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and a handgun violation.