A Morgan State University student was arrested early yesterday and charged with shooting at a man who is being tried on charges of stabbing him during a fracas that left another Morgan student dead.
Shanile Shakoor, who was stabbed in the Feb. 17 incident at the Morgan campus and testified at trial, was charged yesterday in a drive-by shooting that investigators said targeted Scott A. Stevenson -- who is on trial on charges of murdering a Morgan student and stabbing Mr. Shakoor. Mr. Stevenson had been out on bail.
Also arrested in the shooting early yesterday was Truman Kendrick, police said. Mr. Kendrick, a 21-year-old Morgan student, was a prosecution witness in the trial, which began Nov. 4 in Baltimore Circuit Court, said Henry I. Greenberg, a lawyer for Mr. Stevenson.
Both men were charged with assault by shooting, said Sabrina Tapp-Harper, a city police spokeswoman. She said the investigation was continuing in an effort to find two other men believed to have been in the car.
Mr. Stevenson was not injured, police said.
Ms. Tapp-Harper said police were unsure of a motive, but Mr. Greenberg said he will bring the incident to Judge Roger W. Brown's attention when the trial resumes tomorrow "for the sole purpose of the safety of all parties concerned, including the witnesses who are going to testify for the defense in the case."
Scott Stevenson is charged with murder in the stabbing death of Sean Jones, 22, a junior at Morgan. He is charged with attempted murder in Mr. Shakoor's stabbing. His younger brother, Mark Stevenson, 20, is on trial for attempted murder in the stabbing of another Morgan student, Marlon Sullivan.
The stabbings occurred Feb. 17 at the Morgan State campus.
In her opening statement in the trial, prosecutor Carolyn Starks Saxon said the Stevenson brothers, both New Yorkers attending Coppin State College as freshmen, were at the Morgan campus the day of the stabbings for a comedy show.
She said the stabbings occurred after Mr. Jones, a 22-year-old junior at Morgan, recruited some friends to hunt down another Coppin student who had bumped his car earlier, and a fight broke out.
During the trial, the defense has contended that Baltimore police ignored evidence implicating another man and, to avoid embarrassment, stuck with their original suspects, the Stevenson brothers.
The drive-by shooting early yesterday apparently was the culmination of a series of events that began Friday night in Towson.
Cecil Stevenson, an older brother of the two defendants who has been in court throughout the trial, and Rodney Lister, a 20-year-old Morgan student, reported to police that Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Kendrick attacked them Friday night in the Towson Town Center shopping mall.
Cpl. Kevin B. Novak, a county police spokesman, said Mr. Lister reported receiving a bruised knee and a cut hand in the fight. The spokesman said both men went to St. Joseph's Hospital in Towson, but he had no report of any other injuries.
Baltimore County police did not place any charges against Mr. Sullivan or Mr. Kendrick, instead telling Mr. Stevenson and Mr. Lister they could swear out their own charges with a District Court commissioner, Corporal Novak said.
Ms. Tapp-Harper, the police spokeswoman, said police believe the suspects may have followed Scott Stevenson from "some location in Baltimore County" to his apartment in the 5700 block of Chinquapin Parkway in North Baltimore.
She said Mr. Stevenson reported that the shots came from a blue, four-door Oldsmobile with New Jersey plates.
He told police he recognized the four men in the car.
Mr. Shakoor and Mr. Kendrick were arrested about 2 a.m. at their home in the 5200 block of Leith Road, Ms. Tapp-Harper said. They were released last night on their own recognizance, police said.
Ms. Saxon, the prosecutor, could not be reached for comment last night. Told of yesterday's events, Baltimore State's Attorney Stuart O. Simms declined to comment other than to say the incident will likely be addressed when the trial resumes tomorrow.