HAGERSTOWN —
City police have charged a Hagerstown man in the shooting death of a Frederick County man over the weekend during a birthday party at a Guilford Avenue home.Marcus Deon Longus, 18, of 1036 Ross St., who is still at large, was charged in a warrant with one count each of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, firearm use in commission of a violent crime, handgun on person and possession of a regulated firearm by a minor, according to the Hagerstown Police Department.
Lt. Tom Langston said the possession of the regulated firearm charge by a minor was filed because Longus is younger than 21.
Langston said the warrant was issued Wednesday night.
“We’re not sure where he is,” Langston said of the search for Longus.
Antonio Michael Joyner, 25, of Walkersville, Md., was pronounced dead at Meritus Medical Center near Hagerstown after being shot during a birthday party at 730 Guilford Ave.
Officer Derek Marshall was on patrol shortly after 12 a.m. Sunday when he saw a large crowd outside the home, police said. When Marshall stopped to investigate, he discovered that a shooting had occurred and found Joyner lying in the kitchen with a gunshot wound to the upper torso.
Marshal performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on Joyner and called for an ambulance.
An investigation determined that at least 20 people were at the party when a fight broke out, police said. Joyner was wounded during the scuffle.
Langston said the gunshot appeared to hit Joyner in the back.
“He had a hole in his back and a hole in his chest consistent with entry and exit type wounds,” Langston said in an email.
He said police were awaiting autopsy results from the medical examiner’s office in Baltimore for confirmation.
Warrants had been issued for Longus’ arrest for violating probation on earlier criminal convictions, according to Washington County Circuit and District Court records. One of the violations stemmed from Joyner’s murder, but did not specifically allege he was the shooter, the court documents said.
“Witnesses have identified the Defendant (Longus) as being present with a group of young men at a party at 730 Guilford Avenue ... in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 24,” the violation petition said. “During the party, an as yet unidentified individual shot and killed an attendee.”
On Monday, police tried to contact Longus regarding the homicide and served search warrants “related to his recent distribution of cocaine,” the petition said.
During a search of 1036 Ross St., investigators found 9-mm ammunition “consistent with ammunition found at the homicide scene,” the petition said.
Police also searched residences on South Potomac and East Washington streets, but were unable to find him.
Criminal record
Longus had accumulated a number of charges as a juvenile and an adult, according to court records.
He was 16 and on community detention for a juvenile offense when his then 2-year-old brother, Mario, was shot in the chest at their Little Elliott Drive apartment on Sept. 27, 2010.
Longus, who was charged with hindering and obstructing police and firearms charges in that case, pleaded guilty to hindering police and was sentenced to one year in jail.
The gun Mario Longus apparently used to shoot himself in the chest was reported stolen a few weeks earlier from the vehicle of a federal law-enforcement officer in Keedysville. The injury left the boy paralyzed.
In 2011, Marcus Longus was charged with stealing a gun and a car from a Hagerstown man and woman. He pleaded guilty to unauthorized removal of property and was given a sentence of four months and eight days of time served.
On April 26, a Hagerstown police officer pulled over a car after it passed his location on West Church Street three times. The officer stopped the vehicle, which was driven by Longus, the charging documents said.
Longus had no driver’s license, and a K-9 team was called in to scan the car. Cocaine was found under the kick plate of the driver’s side door, the documents said.
Longus was charged with possession of cocaine and driving without a license, court records said.
On June 23, Longus was again cited for driving without a license, according to the probation violation petition. The case has not yet been set for trial.
During the week of June 18, Longus “sold crack cocaine to an Washington County Task Force confidential narcotics informant,” the petition said. However, “that matter has not yet been criminally charged.”
