Press Releases

FREDERICK, MD –
BOND REVIEW
David Robert Leatherman, age 42, of Hanover, Pennsylvania declined to waive extradition in a bond review before Judge Dino Flores Jr. this afternoon in Frederick County District Court. Leatherman is a suspect in an attempted murder in Pennsylvania. Leatherman will be held without bond at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center pending a future court date regarding the Fugitive From Justice warrant.

POLICE-INVOLVED SHOOTING INVESTIGATION

“The State’s Attorney’s office will be independently evaluating the police use of deadly force to determine whether it was objectively reasonable under a totality of circumstances, the standard articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court. We will be releasing a report with our findings after a thorough and complete investigation and analysis.” – J. Charles Smith III, State’s Attorney

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 18, 2020

FREDERICK, MD –                                  INDICTMENT

This morning, the Frederick County Grand Jury indicted Jordan Burris Hooks, age 27, of Frederick on charges of 1^st Degree Murder, 1^st Degree Assault, Use of a Firearm in a Felony, and handgun on-person. Hooks is held without bond at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center.

                                                                  BACKGROUND

On the evening of Friday, September 11, 2020, Frederick County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Jordan Hooks, 27, of Frederick and charged him with 1st Degree Murder for the homicide of Mr. Jaemari Anderson that occurred on September 6, 2020. Through the process of the investigation, detectives were able to determine that Anderson and Hooks were described as close friends and were both at Hooks’ house throughout the day and evening of September 6th. During the execution of a search warrant served at Hooks’ residence on Waterview Court, detectives located Anderson’s cell phone and other personal property in Hooks’ basement that Mr. Anderson was known to always carry with him.

Additional evidence obtained included videos from Hooks’ cell phone, believed to have been recorded on September 5th, depicting Hooks and several others in his basement smoking and brandishing handguns. At one point, Hooks is seen holding and pointing a silver-colored handgun at the camera.

When interviewed, Hooks confirmed that he and Anderson had been together during the day of the homicide, but that he had not had contact with Anderson for a period of time prior to the shooting, claiming that Anderson had left his house to meet his girlfriend. Hooks had no explanation for why Anderson would leave his cell phone and other personal property items at his house when Anderson left.

During the course of the investigation, detectives learned that on September 6th there had been a confrontation involving Anderson in Hooks’ basement. This led to Hooks and Anderson agreeing to a physical fight outside. The investigation revealed that when Anderson left the room, Hooks pulled a handgun from the couch, similar to the one he had been waiving around in the video, and put it in his waistband. The group then left the basement and headed toward the walking path in Waterside. Witnesses and neighbors describe hearing a single gunshot and seeing people fleeing the area.  Investigators located a single shell casing within a few feet of the victim.

Detectives are still considering this an ongoing homicide investigation. Anyone with information should report it to Det. Jason Brady of the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office.

An indictment is a charging document alleging criminal conduct.  All Defendants are innocent until proven guilty.

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Frederick, MD – This afternoon in Frederick County District Court, Judge Dino Flores Jr. ordered Lemuel Lee Roberts, age 32, of Winchester, VA held without bond. Roberts is charged with 1^st Degree Murder in the death of Kaitlin Nicole Roberts. The defendant was recently extradited from Frederick County, VA.

Deputies with the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the intersection of English Muffin Way and English Muffin Court at 2:02 am on January 11, 2020 for the report of a body in the roadway. The victim was identified as Kaitlin Nicole Roberts, of Winchester, VA. While Sheriff’s Office detectives waited for an autopsy to be completed at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, they contacted Winchester, VA police to obtain further information. Detectives received a call from the Fire Marshal in Winchester stating that he had a case involving a burned out car belonging to Kaitlin Roberts’ ex-husband, Lemuel Lee Roberts.  According to charging documents, the Medical Examiner noted 32 stab wounds to the victim as well as abrasions from “road rash” due to being dragged by a vehicle. The investigation found that the defendant’s vehicle and phone were in the area of the crime scene at the time of the murder.

Judge Flores scheduled a preliminary hearing for the afternoon of August 24^th, 2020.

Frederick, MD –  This morning in Frederick County Circuit Court, a disposition hearing was held for the 15-year-old juvenile charged in the death of John Weed at the Great Frederick Fair last year. Judge William R. Nicklas Jr. followed the State’s recommendation that the respondent be placed in a long-term behavioral modification program. Nicklas commented that, “this is a flat out horrible case” and that this was an “unprovoked sucker punch.” Mr. Weed did nothing to deserve being hit or pursued by these youth. The respondent will remain in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Services pending placement in a program.

Following the hearing today, State’s Attorney Charlie Smith stated, “In the juvenile system, this is the best we can do for the family. It’s also what is right at this time for the offender given his status as a juvenile. Nothing will bring back their loved one, but I hope that they can begin to heal a little more now that this part is behind them.”

In Frederick County Circuit Court April 29^th, the respondent pled guilty to Manslaughter for the September 20th offense at the Frederick Fair. The State requested that the youth be tried as an adult, but after a lengthy hearing in February the Court determined he would remain in the juvenile system.    Mr. Weed’s family participated in today’s hearing via video conference. They faithfully attended every hearing, and wanted to see the youth held accountable in an appropriate juvenile residential program.

On the evening of September 20^th, 2019, John Weed was enjoying a family night at the fair when he was approached by the 15-year-old juvenile male and a couple friends.  The teen and another youth asked Mr. Weed for money.  Mr. Weed said “no”.  The youth kept pursuing Mr. Weed, despite family members begging the youth to leave him alone.  The facts that the teen stipulated included that he hit Mr. Weed twice as Mr. Weed walked away, then his brother got involved and hit him twice. When Mr. Weed was facing his 16-year-old brother, the respondent came running from a distance and punched Mr. Weed with such force, the photos indicate he had lost consciousness almost immediately.   Mr. Weed never regained consciousness and died of his injuries the next day at Shock Trauma in Baltimore.   The facts as detailed in the Courtroom on April 29th indicated that all the witnesses who were present for the entire incident, including the respondent himself, said that there were no racial slurs used.

The 16-year-old co-respondent charged as a juvenile with two counts of 2^nd Degree Assault is pending trial.

The State was represented by Chief Assistant State’s Attorneys Laura Wilt and Rebecca Clinton.

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FREDERICK – This morning in Frederick County Circuit Court, Hestina Lakeisha Harris, 24, of Jefferson, MD entered a guilty plea to 1st degree murder. Judge Scott Rolle sentenced Harris to life, suspending all but 60 years to serve. As part of the plea agreement, the State maintains the right to veto any modification of the sentence. Harris must serve 5 years of supervised probation upon release, with all standard conditions. “This has been a delicate situation where the victim’s family is also the family of the defendant. Quite frankly, we just haven’t seen eye to eye. Our obligation to the community always prevails, which is why we were not willing to go below the 60 year sentence,” stated State’s Attorney Charlie Smith. “Deputy State’s Attorney Kirsten Brown and Assistant State’s Attorney Erin Pearl worked very hard to gain a conviction in the first trial, and short of this substantial sentence, were willing to do so again,” Smith stated further.

On December 22, 2014 at 2:37 pm, the Frederick County Emergency Communication Center began receiving 911 calls regarding a stabbing in the 5400 block of Burkittsville Rd., Burkittsville, MD. Police and EMS were dispatched to the home.

The victim, Lillie Marie Morris, age 67, was discovered in the front yard of her home. A passing motorist saw Ms. Morris lying face down on the lawn attempting to lift herself off the ground. The

motorist turned around in her vehicle and parked in the Morris driveway. She honked her horn in an attempt to get the attention of someone in the home believing at first it was a medical emergency. She exited her car and attempted to call 911 as she approached the victim, Ms. Morris. The defendant, Hestina Harris, then exited from the home yelling in what the witness described as a “growl”. The motorist advised her to go inside and call 911. Witnesses stated that at no time did Harris render aid to the victim.

Lillie Morris was pronounced deceased by EMS personnel on scene, and her body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore where the manner of death was determined to be homicide. The cause of death was sharp force injuries to several of her major organs.