SALISBURY, Md.- Three men are in custody and charged with the murder of a Wicomico County teenager after a Saturday night shooting at America's Best Value Inn in Salisbury, police said.
According to Salisbury Police Department, Jarrett Vaughn Stokes and Ky’Shir Tariq Connally, both 18 and from Delmar, and Larry Allen Lamar Ennis, 20, of Salisbury, were taken into custody without incident by members of the US Marshals Capitol Area Region Fugitive Task Force.
Officials said Stokes and Connally were arrested Tuesday evening in separate locations near Delmar and taken to the Wicomico County Detention Center where they are being held without bond.
According to police, Ennis was arrested by members of the fugitive task force at approximately 4 p.m. Wednesday in Dover, Del. Authorities said Ennis waived extradition and will be transported back to Wicomico County. WBOC also learned that Ennis was a well-known basketball player in the area. He played four years at Wicomico High School in Salisbury and a fifth year at Delmar High this season. He was an All-Conference Player multiple years and while playing for Delmar was an All-State Honorable Mention Selection this year in Delaware.
Police said all three men are charged with first-degree murder and related counts for the Aug. 2 shooting death of 17-year-old Rakim Russell, of Fruitland.
Rakim Russell was shot while in the parking lot of the America’s Best Value Inn, located at 2625 N. Salisbury Blvd., as he left a party just after midnight on Sunday.
According to court documents, investigators determined that Connally and Ennis, who were involved in an earlier altercation at the party and had "outstanding issues" with the majority of those in attendance, drove back to the hotel with Stokes. It was there that Stokes, who was in the passenger seat of a white Chevrolet Impala, allegedly used a semi-automatic handgun to fire approximately four shots at the crowd in the parking lot with one of the bullets striking Stokes in the head, court documents said.
Additionally, another one of the bullets fired by Stokes entered an occupied hotel room and the projectile from this shot hit several objects before it came to rest at the foot of a bed in which a man was lying, the court documents state.
Russell was taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury where he died from his injuries.
Thursday, WBOC spoke with Shannell Johnson, the mother of Rakim Russell. Johnson said the arrests were a big relief for her and her family.
"I just know that Rakim didn't deserve something like this and whoever was responsible should have to pay the consequence because there's consequences for sin," Johnson said.
Johnson added the past week has been the most difficult time in her life and has a message for her local community.
"Just to learn to love one another," Johnson said. "And I know we're not going to all get along all the time but if they just love one another enough to walk away, then that's enough love for me."
One life lost and three others potentially ruined after one bad night in Salisbury.
