


A Taneytown man charged with second-degree murder in a July 4 road rage incident that resulted in the death of a 36-year-old man will be retried, after his initial trial ended in a hung jury on April 29.
Deputy State’s Attorney Melissa Hockensmith, who prosecuted the case with Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Camuti, said last week she would decide whether to retry the case after consulting with the family of Christopher Patrick Moore II, 36, who was killed in the incident and others who were injured, including Moore’s fiancée.
“The affected families are certainly interested in obtaining justice,” Carroll County State’s Attorney Haven Shoemaker said, “and given the serious allegations and the serious facts surrounding those allegations, we absolutely have to retry this case. There’s no question about it.”
Although prosecutors would prefer for the case to be retried quickly, Hockensmith said last week her schedule is full through November. A retrial could be scheduled for eight court days; that is how long Davon Joseph Dabbs’ trial lasted.
Dabbs will continue to be held without bail, but he has the right to request a bail review hearing.
According to charging documents, Moore and Dabbs had an altercation while driving along Route 140. They followed one another to the intersection with Bear Run Road, where Dabbs and his brother, Kwame Kelly, 26, got out of his vehicle, while Moore got out of another. Their argument escalated, and Moore’s fiancée, Stephanie Green, 33, arrived in a separate vehicle, with a handgun, “hoping this would de-escalate the assault,” police wrote.
Dabbs fought Green for the gun and was shot in the leg. He then grabbed the gun and fired multiple times, hitting his brother and Moore. Green suffered a broken jaw, according to charging documents; Moore was killed.
Dabbs was charged with manslaughter, four counts of first-degree assault, and second-degree assault, according to court documents. Prosecutors have the opportunity to add or remove charges when a case is retried, but any felony charges must be ratified by a grand jury indictment. Shoemaker said the decision regarding charges will be made “in relatively short order.”
“We’re still contemplating … which charges will be going forward,” Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker declined to comment on whether anyone else would be charged.
Hockensmith said last week it is hard to get 12 people to agree on anything, and it is especially hard for jury members to agree beyond a reasonable doubt, as the law requires. Jurors told Hockensmith there was never a consensus.
“Juries are unique,” Shoemaker said. “Each jury is unique, and they bring certain perspectives and real-world experience to the table. We’ll do the best we can as far as picking a fair jury goes.”
The trial began in Carroll County Circuit Court with jury selection on April 21. The state rested its case on April 25, and the defense rested on April 28.
“I think there will be more developments in this case in the coming weeks,” Shoemaker said.
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