Md. high school senior remembered after killing behind movie theater

WASHINGTON — An argument near a popular Maryland movie theater has left a high school senior dead, a 19-year-old man facing murder charges and a school in mourning.

“I would see him around the hallways and he was always smiling, very focused,” said Dana Fenwick who taught 18-year-old Reuel Hicks, who died after a shooting in the parking lot behind the movie theater at St. Charles Towne Center in Waldorf, Maryland, around 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Now an administrator at West Lake High School in Waldorf, Fenwick said she’ll remember the teen for his popularity and drive.

“He was a senior and recently we had talked about him going into an apprenticeship upon graduation,” she said.

Instead, Hicks died after he strayed from a group of friends to meet 19-year-old Deavan Jefferson.

“For some unknown reason, the suspect pulled out a gun and shot the victim, striking him once in the upper body,” said Diane Richardson with the Charles County Sheriff’s Department.

Investigators say they believe the two were making a drug deal.

“The witnesses on the scene were able to give us a good description of suspect and based on those descriptions, our officers were immediately able to locate the suspect,” she said.

Jefferson is charged with first degree murder.

Megan Cloherty

WTOP Investigative Reporter Megan Cloherty primarily covers breaking news, crime and courts.

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