Two men charged with murder at an illegal car meetup last month in the District Heights area of Maryland were ordered to be held without bond Friday.
The killing of 26-year-old John Phipps happened shortly before 2 a.m. on Sunday, May 19. The shooting followed several reports of drag racing and gunfire near the Great Eastern Plaza Shopping Mall along Marlboro Pike. Another man was also shot during that melee.
Numerous tips from witnesses and through social media quickly led police to identify the suspects as 22-year-old Raheem Adams, of Stafford, and 21-year-old Caimon Harrell, of Woodbridge. Adams was arrested days after Phipps’ killing and Harrell was arrested last week.
“This incident is very serious,” said Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy after the bond hearing Friday. “This behavior is completely outrageous. This should have never happened.”
Charging documents say Phipps was sitting in the driver’s seat of a Ford Edge near one of the stores in the shopping center when police say Adams and Harrell started shooting at the occupants of a stolen Chevy Camaro because the driver had spun the wheels too close to them.
“They decided to recklessly shoot at the car,” Braveboy said. “Unfortunately, Mr. Phipps was killed and another victim was wounded.”
Police say in this instance, Adams fired five shots in just two seconds, and Harrell fired two more in the following six seconds. All were directed at the stolen Camaro, but the car Phipps was in was parked behind it, according to the narrative from detectives.
The shooting was even broadcast live on social media and happened just a few months after Adams was arrested in D.C. for possessing a stolen gun. He has also been arrested multiple times in Virginia for gun crimes.
Both are now charged with first and second-degree murder, on top of a long list of other charges related to the shooting. Both are due back in court again next month.
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