Prosecutors: Parking problems, stop for McFlurries led to killing of midshipman’s mother
Updated: 5:39 PM EST Nov 29, 2022
Prosecutors claim parking problems and a stop at McDonald’s led to the fatal shooting of a Naval Academy midshipman’s mother.Prosecutors went before the jury Tuesday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, saying murder suspect Angelo Harrod had a plan and had help carrying it out. Prosecutors said evidence includes video, DNA and cellphone records.A jury of six men and six women, plus four alternates, was seated Monday afternoon.Harrod, 31, of Annapolis, is charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Michelle Cummings, 57, who was struck by a stray bullet while on the patio of the Graduate Hotel in Annapolis on June 29, 2021. She and her husband, Leonard Cummings, were visiting from Houston and had just dropped their son off at the Naval Academy.Leonard Cummings was in court Tuesday as the evidence portion of the trial got underway. Prosecutors told the jury Harrod and a co-conspirator are responsible for the shooting, saying the pair had a plan to stalk and kill a different woman that night, but their timing and location were thrown off by a stop for McFlurries and a new driver who couldn’t parallel park.The defense claimed the state’s case is suffering from a lack of evidence, pointing out ballistics shows two guns and two shooters, but no guns were recovered.”So, who shot and killed Ms. Cummings? The state does not know. The state will tell you they do not know,” defense attorney Howard Cardin told the jury. “You will decide this case not only on the evidence you have heard, but what you have not heard — the lack of evidence.”After opening statements, the state began to call witnesses, including a relative who said Harrod’s nickname is “Jell-O” and identified him on surveillance video and in video presented in court.Video below: Jury seated year after midshipman’s mother killedWitnesses also included fellow Naval Academy parents who were with the Cummings on the patio.”As we stood up to leave, we heard what we thought were fireworks. As we turned around, our friend, Michelle, was laying on the ground,” Sean Johnson told the jury.Leonard Cummings went to his wife while others went for help, testimony indicated.”I yelled to everybody, ‘She had been shot,'” Schavonda Johnson testified. “I grabbed the hotel phone and I called 911.”Prosecutors played Johnson’s 911 call in the courtroom, in which Johnson could be heard saying, “We need an ambulance. There is nobody here at the front desk. Somebody’s shot. We were just sitting out there and somebody on the other side shot.”Prosecutors also played a 911 call made by another friend who was with the couple at the time.
Prosecutors claim parking problems and a stop at McDonald’s led to the fatal shooting of a Naval Academy midshipman’s mother.
Prosecutors went before the jury Tuesday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, saying murder suspect Angelo Harrod had a plan and had help carrying it out. Prosecutors said evidence includes video, DNA and cellphone records.
A jury of six men and six women, plus four alternates, was seated Monday afternoon.
Harrod, 31, of Annapolis, is charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Michelle Cummings, 57, who was struck by a stray bullet while on the patio of the Graduate Hotel in Annapolis on June 29, 2021. She and her husband, Leonard Cummings, were visiting from Houston and had just dropped their son off at the Naval Academy.
Leonard Cummings was in court Tuesday as the evidence portion of the trial got underway. Prosecutors told the jury Harrod and a co-conspirator are responsible for the shooting, saying the pair had a plan to stalk and kill a different woman that night, but their timing and location were thrown off by a stop for McFlurries and a new driver who couldn’t parallel park.
The defense claimed the state’s case is suffering from a lack of evidence, pointing out ballistics shows two guns and two shooters, but no guns were recovered.
“So, who shot and killed Ms. Cummings? The state does not know. The state will tell you they do not know,” defense attorney Howard Cardin told the jury. “You will decide this case not only on the evidence you have heard, but what you have not heard — the lack of evidence.”
After opening statements, the state began to call witnesses, including a relative who said Harrod’s nickname is “Jell-O” and identified him on surveillance video and in video presented in court.
Video below: Jury seated year after midshipman’s mother killed
Witnesses also included fellow Naval Academy parents who were with the Cummings on the patio.
“As we stood up to leave, we heard what we thought were fireworks. As we turned around, our friend, Michelle, was laying on the ground,” Sean Johnson told the jury.
Leonard Cummings went to his wife while others went for help, testimony indicated.
“I yelled to everybody, ‘She had been shot,'” Schavonda Johnson testified. “I grabbed the hotel phone and I called 911.”
Prosecutors played Johnson’s 911 call in the courtroom, in which Johnson could be heard saying, “We need an ambulance. There is nobody here at the front desk. Somebody’s shot. We were just sitting out there and somebody on the other side shot.”
Prosecutors also played a 911 call made by another friend who was with the couple at the time.
