What to Know
- Court records show what the two 18-year-olds and two 17-year-olds accused in the murder of Mason Atkins told police.
- Atkins was shot and killed in Charles County, Maryland, after he and his friends left a party and clashed with young people in another car.
- High school senior Talivah Salahuddin was identified as a suspect after a school resource officer recognized her in surveillance footage.
One of the four young people charged in the death of 18-year-old Mason Atkins in Maryland last month was seen with a gun in the days before the shooting and afterward, a fellow suspect and an unnamed witness told police.
Charging documents obtained by News4 shed new light on the tragedy that is shaking communities in Anne Arundel County, where Atkins lived, and 40 miles to the southwest in Charles County, where the crime occurred and the suspects' families live.
Tyreq Tilghman, 18, had a black handgun "a few days" before Atkins was shot and killed, suspect Kevin Jones, 18, told police.
Tilghman was seen with a black handgun again after the shooting, a witness told police. That witness, who the Charles County Sheriff's Office did not identify, told police they saw Tilghman take a gun from the rear center console of the car that he, Jones and two 17-year-old girls were riding in the night three members of the group admitted to clashing with Atkins, the documents say.
Atkins, a cadet at a volunteer fire department, died Sept. 25 after he was shot along a dirt road in La Plata. He argued with Jones, Tilghman and 17-year-old Talivah Salahuddin after both groups crashed a party and were told to leave, the suspects and two surviving victims told police.
Charles County State's Attorney Tony Covington declined to comment on whether prosecutors have identified Tilghman as the suspected gunman, or if the murder weapon was recovered.
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The prosecutor said anyone responsible for Atkins' death will be held responsible.
"We're going to everything we can, as we do in all these cases, to achieve justice," he said Friday by phone. "We're going to do our part to hold these guys accountable."
Tilghman told police he did not have a gun, charging documents say. No information on his lawyer was available, and on Thursday a family member declined to speak at their home.
All four suspects were charged with murdering Atkins, attempting to murder a second male in the car and assaulting a third male in the car. The teen girls are seniors at St. Charles High School in Waldorf, where the men also live. All four young people are being held without bond.
The charging documents reveal the four suspects' and two surviving victims' accounts to police of what happened the night of the murder.
The trouble began early the morning of Oct. 25 when "words were exchanged between Atkins and the occupants of the suspect vehicle," one surviving victim told police. Atkins was seated in the front passenger seat of a 2003 Chevrolet Yukon, both surviving victims told police.
As the Yukon was stopped on Mona Farm Place in La Plata, a black car passed them, one surviving victim said. Shanya Milstead, the 17-year-old driver of a 2010 Ford Focus, said Jones asked her to pull over and she did, she told police. Charging documents do not provide the account of anyone else on why Milstead stopped the car.
The surviving victims told police that two young men got out of the car and confronted Atkins, who remained seated in the car. Salahuddin told police she also got out of the Ford Focus to confront the other carful of young people.
One surviving victim told Atkins that the shorter of the two men had "some type of object" in his hand, the documents say.
The taller man hit Atkins several times through the open window, and Atkins sprayed him in the face with pepper spray, both surviving victims told police. The shorter man then raised a handgun and fired "one or two" shots into the car, one surviving victim said.
Jones stands 6-foot-4 and Tilghman stands 5-foot-8, court documents say.
The second surviving victim told police he heard the shots but did not see who fired.
One surviving victim then saw that Atkins had been shot in the neck and was bleeding profusely. He then realized he also had been shot, he told police.
The victims fled and drove 4 miles away, to Popes Creek Road in Newburg, police said. They called 911 and police responded about 1:45 a.m. Atkins was pronounced dead.
The suspects fled and went to the Exxon gas station at Route 301 and Route 6 in La Plata, police said. A witness told police that at about 1:50 a.m. they saw a black car pull in, a young woman buy two bottles of water and two young men pour the water on their faces. Police said they then found that surveillance footage confirmed the witness's account.
Photographs of the young woman who bought the water were distributed to members of the Charles County Sheriff's Office, police said. A school resource officer identified her as Salahuddin, a student at St. Charles High School.
All four suspects were interviewed by police on Oct. 11, more than two weeks after the crime. They gave police various accounts of the shooting, charging documents say.
Jones admitted being present during the shooting and said only he and Tilghman stood on the passenger side of the car, where Atkins was sitting, the documents say.
Tilghman said a shooting occurred and said Jones was alongside him outside the car, but said he did not have a gun, according to the documents.
Milstead said she saw Jones "motioning as if he is throwing punches," and then heard gunshots, the documents say.
And, according to the documents, Salahuddin said a shooting did not occur.
One of Milstead's lawyers, Cynthia Goode Works, said she believes that the college-bound honors student will be cleared.
"What happened on September 25, 2016 was a tragedy that resulted in the death of one young man, and physical injury to another. However, Shanya Milstead [was] not involved in the shooting of either of these young men, had nothing to do with the shooting and is completely innocent of all of the charges filed against her," Works said in a statement. "[...] We have confidence in the American judicial system, and expect her full exoneration once all the facts come to light."
Family members of Jones and Milstead declined to speak at their homes on Thursday. Salahuddin's lawyer did not respond to an inquiry, and no one answered the door at her home on Thursday.
Jones' lawyer is questioning the legality of how police identified the 18-year-old, searched him, seized his property and obtained statements from him, a court motion filed by attorney Thomas Mooney says. Mooney did not respond to inquiries.
All four suspects are due in court Wednesday.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call police at 301-609-6513. Tips may be made anonymously by calling 1-866-411-TIPS, sending a text message with CHARLES to CRIMES or by visiting www.tipsubmit.com. A reward of as much as $1,000 is offered.
Kelvin Henry contributed reporting.
