(SALISBURY, Md.)- After a three day trial, Jarrett Stokes, age 19, of Delmar, was convicted by a Wicomico County Jury of Murder 1st Degree, Conspiracy, Handgun Use in a Felony, and related offenses.
An investigation conducted by the Salisbury Police Department revealed that just after midnight on Aug 2, 2015, three other codefendants, Larry Ennis, Kyshir Connally, and Marquel Pinder were at an under 21 party at America's Best Value Inn. At the party, Ennis, Connally, and Pinder got into a verbal altercation with another group and were asked to leave.
Upon leaving the party, a phone call was made to Jarrett Stokes, and the group met at IHOP. The group, including Ennis, Connally, Pinder, and Stokes then headed back to America's Best Value Inn to confront the group from earlier.
They parked across from the hotel and Ennis, Connally, and Stokes searched the crowd for the individual Ennis and Connally had been previously fighting. After surveying the crowd for approximately ten minutes, Stokes shot four rounds into the crowd of 75 to 100 individuals. One of those rounds struck and killed a 17 year old boy who was standing in the crowd.
On May 5, 2016, Stokes was sentenced by a Circuit Court Judge to life in prison on Murder 1st Degree, plus an additional 20 years on Handgun Use in a Felony and 3 years on Reckless Endangerment.