An Annapolis, Maryland, man, who’s accused of murdering three people including his neighbor, is now facing hate crime charges.
Prosecutors in Anne Arundel County filed the three hate crime counts Friday against 43-year-old Charles Robert Smith. He also faces 39 others, including three charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and various assault charges, according to court records.
Smith, who is white, is accused of killing three Latino men: Nicholas Mireles, 55, of Odenton, Maryland, Mario Antonio Mireles Ruiz, 27, of Annapolis and Christian Marlon Segovia, 25, of Annapolis.
According to Maryland law, a hate crime is “motivated either in whole or in a substantial part by another person’s or group’s race, color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, disability, or national origin, or because another person or group is homeless.”
Charging documents revealed the shooting arose out of a parking dispute during a party.
On June 11, Smith’s mother, Shirley Smith, called in a parking enforcement complaint when a car was blocking her driveway.
Mireles Ruiz got into an argument with the woman and when Smith returned home, he confronted Mireles Ruiz, according to police.
It turned physical and Smith allegedly pulled a handgun and shot both Mireles Ruiz and Segovia.
Smith then allegedly retreated to inside his home and began shooting out the front window of his house killing Nicholas Mireles, Mireles Ruiz’s father, and wounding three others.
Court documents showed that Smith told police he started shooting because someone shot at his house.
Witnesses told authorities they did not see any of the victims with guns. Smith is scheduled for an initial appearance in court on Aug. 31.
